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Welcome to Liverpool Luis Diaz

Bjornebye

By Bjornebye,
in FF - Football Forum

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M_B
M_B

We'll be getting all of Everton's Columbian fans too. Bonus. 

The-Sir
The-Sir

Here we go, in case the last one didn't work. 

Boss
Boss

What the article says is we contacted Porto to ask about Diaz because he was our number one target but they initially quoted us 80m (his buy out clause). We turned it down. Then due to the financial d

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Soz about the formatting, beyond my control!

 

Every time Luis Diaz scores, he celebrates by pointing to the sky with both hands. It is his way of paying tribute to the woman who helped more than anybody in his formative years: his grandmother Rosaura Jimenez, who passed away in 2018. It is a celebration that, if things go to plan, will become a regular sight at Anfield.

 

Having grown up without a TV in the small village of Barrancas, close to the border with Venezuela in north eastern Colombia, Diaz would spend his nights listening to Dona Rosaura tell stories. A TV arrived when Diaz’s career took off at Barranquilla, although it was too small to make out the winger. A big-screen followed on his first serious payday and a proud Dona Rosaura could finally watch her grandson in action.

 

That she is not around to watch him as a £37 million Premier League footballer will be a source of regret to Diaz. This is a man who has never forgotten his roots.

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“He’s a very humble boy,” said Julio Comesana, who coached him at Colombian side Junior. “I’ve never seen him fighting others, being disrespectful or drawing attention for what he does on social media. He’s a protagonist where he needs to be and that is on the pitch.”

Porto can surely testify to that. Until Liverpool came knocking, Diaz had established himself as the best player in the Portuguese league, scoring 14 goals in 18 appearances this season. “The way he communicates with the ball is almost poetic,” said assistant manager Vitor Bruno.

 

Jurgen Klopp will be happy for Diaz, someone that comes across as shy and not a natural speaker, to let his performances do the talking.

The Liverpool boss was certainly left impressed by the Colombian winger during last summer’s Copa America. Despite starting on the bench, he finished the tournament as joint-top scorer alongside Lionel Messi, scoring against Brazil and Argentina along the way.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that Diaz will be able to settle quickly in Liverpool because that’s the story of his life. He’s an adapter,” Comesana explained.

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“He comes from Barrancas and first moved to Barranquilla, which is not a simple thing, but he did quite well. Then he went to Portugal and was successful there, too. We have never heard of him having discipline issues or talking s--- in the media. He’s always been respectful to his colleagues and everyone surrounding him and has just become a father.”

 

That Diaz has progressed this far in his career is deemed as a miracle by some back home.

The 25 year-old grew up as part of the Wayuu, the largest indigenous community in Colombia, having spent his childhood in one of the country’s most neglected areas, where hundreds of children die of malnutrition every year. Such are the struggles that even access to safe and sufficient water is a common issue in La Guajira region.

Many blame the Cerrejon, one of the world’s biggest open pit coal mines, for polluting the local river and making life harder for everyone.

 

Unsurprisingly, very few footballers from there have been able to make a name for themselves, the exception being Arnoldo Iguaran, Copa America’s top scorer in 1987.

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Diaz’s journey to the top included an appearance with Colombia at the 2015 Copa America of Indigenous People. He would follow that up by joining second-tier club Barranquilla, an affiliate of Junior, and featuring at the U20 South American Championship two years later. Yet he nearly did not make it.

 

“Our medical staff had actually advised me not to call him up because they doubted he had physical conditions to help the team. They talked of malnutrition and him not being capable of handling the entire tournament – as if he would play two games and then need to be rested in the third one,” recalled Carlos ‘Piscis’ Restrepo, currently at Atletico Nacional.

 

“In the end, we decided to bring him with us, but planned to use him more as a second half option. He’s improved a lot since then and is now a different player with a goal scoring instinct.”

Later that year, Diaz would finally pack his things and move to Junior, going on to win the Colombian league and reach the Copa Sudamericana final the following season. Soon, Porto made a move, agreeing to pay 7m euros in 2019.

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He did not take long to adapt in north Portugal, although he lacked consistency and would often be found on the bench in his first two seasons. This campaign, however, he has taken his game to an entirely new level, with his signature move – cutting in from the left – becoming almost unstoppable.

 

Given  his potential, Porto fans were left frustrated by the fee paid by Liverpool, especially considering the team had sold young striker Fabio Silva to Wolverhampton for £35m in 2020.

“It was not a good deal. Porto don’t find themselves in a comfortable financial situation, but the truth is that Liverpool got Diaz for a bargain price,” Porto legend Eurico Gomes said.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/02/04/luis-diaz-went-malnourished-football-37m-liverpool-star/

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