Fabrizio Romano has revealed Luis Diaz was happy to join Tottenham from Porto before Liverpool made a ‘huge’ proposal to jump to the front of the queue.
Tottenham were credited with heavy interest in the Colombia international and saw a £37.6 million bid rejected by Porto earlier this week (The Guardian).
However, Spurs have now found themselves to be swept aside by Liverpool in the race for Diaz, with the Reds now in pole position to land his signature ahead of next week’s deadline (Liverpool Echo).
Sky Sports report Jurgen Klopp’s side have offered a similar amount to Porto as Spurs did but with larger performance-related add-ons, with Diaz said to favour a move to Anfield.
Transfer expert Romano has now revealed Diaz was happy to make the move to Tottenham with talks at the time ongoing.
However, as Spurs were preparing to increase their offer, Liverpool were waiting in the wings before submitting a bid that blew the North London side out of negotiations.
Romano told Last Word On Spurs (5:25): “Tottenham were really pushing [to sign Luis Diaz]. They made an opening proposal around £35m million with some add-ons, not £20m in add-ons as Liverpool are offering now. Less money, but it was a good proposal.
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“But Porto were not happy with that proposal. The player was open. He always said, ‘I want to go to the Premier League’, so he was happy with Tottenham’s proposal. He was happy to go, but the point was between the clubs.
“Then while Tottenham were preparing their second proposal, because they wanted to do a second proposal, in the same moment, in really the final stages, Liverpool made their first proposal and it was a huge one.
“Porto were happy with that proposal and, of course, Liverpool are playing in the Champions League. Liverpool are super attractive for a winger in general, playing with players like [Mohamed] Salah and [Sadio] Mane.
“They would have the opportunity to sign an important winger for the future and this is what happened. It’s been really, really crazy for Tottenham.”
Spurs Web Opinion
There isn’t much else Spurs could do here. Liverpool is a much more attractive place to be playing at the moment, so as soon as they entered the negotiations it was game over. Diaz was happy with Spurs and playing in the Premier League, but ultimately Liverpool is a bigger lure currently.
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