Luis Diaz immediately left his Colombia teammates to take a flight to complete his Liverpool move after their World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.
Liverpool made Luis Diaz their only signing of the January transfer window over the weekend. The attacker arrived from Porto and signed a long-term contract. He will add further excitement to Jurgen Klopp’s frontline.
And he is enthusiastic for the move too, which he completed while away on international duty in South America.
There was disappointment for his Colombia side on Monday, though. They lost 1-0 to Argentina and now look likely to miss out on a place at Qatar 2022.
It left Diaz in tears, but he has had to quickly shake off that disappointment in favour of more positive emotions about joining Liverpool.
Indeed, RCN have reported that Diaz left his international colleagues – who were travelling to the airport together – to take a charter flight ahead of his move to Liverpool.
It means he will soon be getting the chance to be introduced to his new clubmates and his general surroundings.
Reports elsewhere have revealed Diaz will touch down in Liverpool on Thursday. One day later, the process will begin for his work permit.
Diaz is unlikely to be ready in time to make his debut in Liverpool’s next fixture, against Cardiff City in the FA Cup on Sunday. But with his arrival imminent, the wait shouldn’t be too long.
The 25-year-old will be competing with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino for a place in Liverpool’s lineup.
With 14 goals from 18 Portuguese league games to his name from the first half of the season, he has every chance of adding something new to the attack.
How Liverpool beat Tottenham to Luis Diaz
Daniel Levy “did everything he could” to sign Luis Diaz for Tottenham Hotspur this January, but a report has revealed why Liverpool beat them to the transfer.
According to The Athletic, Tottenham found agreements with both Diaz and his former club Porto to sign him. That came before he headed off for international duty, though, after which there was a twist.
While Diaz was away, one of his Colombian agents effectively vetoed the move. That was because Porto gave Jorge Mendes a mandate to oversee the Spurs switch; Diaz’s representative objected.
Meanwhile, Liverpool – who were originally lining up Diaz for the summer – took their chance to swoop in. They did not use Mendes as an intermediary.
Upon Diaz’s arrival at Anfield, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp explained how he would only sign players in January if they are ones who the club would be interested in during the summer – and Diaz fit in with that strategy.
Klopp’s presence, incidentally, was a factor in convincing Diaz to join Liverpool. Furthermore, the fact they have Champions League football and Tottenham do not helped.
But Diaz had also been “enthusiastic” about Tottenham’s interest, the report claims. In turn, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is supposedly “raging” that the deal fell through.
Tottenham had signed paperwork over a €45m plus €15m deal with Porto. In the end, though, it was Liverpool who took him for reportedly the same figures.
READ MORE: Liverpool star’s fate sealed, as Luis Diaz transfer forces Klopp to trim Premier League squad
