A report has given an intriguing reason as to why Luis Diaz is on the verge of joining Liverpool rather than Tottenham.
The Porto attacker has long been on Liverpool’s radar as they attempt to find successors for Mo Salah and Sadio Mane. However, Tottenham chief Fabio Paratici got to work on a potential deal taking Diaz to north London earlier this week.
Spurs were willing to pay an initial £37million, plus £9m in add-ons, to sign the Colombia international. But Liverpool soon raced in to snatch him from their grasp.
According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, the Reds submitted a bid worth €40m (£33.2m) plus €25m (£20.7m) in bonuses on Friday.
That looks set to be enough as Liverpool are now discussing the finer details with Porto. Diaz is preparing to pen a five-year contract with the Anfield club.
In response, Tottenham have made a £100,000 bid for Lewes winger Ollie Tanner, who plays in the seventh tier of English football.
They have also set their sights on Juventus wide man Dejan Kulusevski, with club chairman Daniel Levy in full-blown ‘panic mode’.
Jorge Mendes involved in Luis Diaz failure
Sport Witness, citing Portuguese newspaper Record, attempt to explain why Diaz will link up with Jurgen Klopp, rather than Antonio Conte.
They claim the involvement of renowned agent Jorge Mendes caused problems, and in particular ‘friction’ with another representative.
Mendes gave Paratici the idea of landing Diaz from Porto. But the Portuguese club had already handed the goalscorer’s agent, Raul Costa, the ‘mandate’ to complete a deal with an English club.
This meant the agent fee, worth 10 per cent, would have been doubled in any transfer to Tottenham.
As Liverpool had no agreement with Mendes, their offer was less complex, allowing it to go through more quickly.
Give our social media channels a follow – we’re on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Brighton in for Tottenham outcast
Meanwhile, Brighton are reportedly looking at a move for Tottenham defender Joe Rodon as Newcastle close in on the signature of Seagulls centre-back Dan Burn.
It emerged on Wednesday that Newcastle had already bid £8m for the 29-year-old defender. That was rejected by Brighton. But it seems as though Eddie Howe is confident of bringing in further additions late in the month.
“We are hopeful of getting closer to completing a transfer for a player,” he said on Friday.
Brighton manager Graham Potter is wasting little time in looking for someone to fill the possible void, per football.london. Rodon has become a peripheral figure at Spurs since moving to the club in October 2020.
He was handed a five-year deal but has seen little action, with eight starts among 12 top-flight outings in 2020-2021. And the Wales international has played only 78 minutes of league football from one start this term.
READ MORE: Angry Antonio Conte plans to wreck Arsenal transfer plan with £32m swoop for Brazilian
