The Athletic’s James Pearce has revealed the main reason Liverpool beat Tottenham to the signing of Luis Diaz was that Porto considered the add-ons in the Reds’ offer to be more realistic than Tottenham’s.
Spurs were expected to win the race for Diaz at one point during the January transfer window (The Guardian) but it was Liverpool who managed to snap up the Colombian.
According to The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare and Jack Pitt-Brooke, Tottenham had agreed on a transfer fee with Porto for the wide man before the Reds swooped in to steal the 25-year-old from under Spurs’ noses.
They claimed that the offer of Champions League football and the chance to work with Jurgen Klopp convinced Diaz to pick Liverpool.
However, their colleague James Pearce has now claimed it was the structure of the offer made by Liverpool that convinced Porto to sell the winger to them.
He reveals that Spurs were ‘increasingly confident’ of winning the race for Diaz before Liverpool stepped in.
The journalist alleges that the Reds were willing to agree to add-on clauses in the deal, based on appearances and trophies won, which Porto deemed more realistic than those put forward by Tottenham.
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Pearce added that Liverpool were also prepared to pay around £7m instantly so Porto could pay debts and stave off the threat of being banned from European competition by UEFA.
Spurs Web Opinion
While Eccleshare and Pitt-Brooke are seemingly reporting what they heard from Spurs sources, Pearce is obviously basing it on what he has heard from Anfield.
I am inclined to believe the former as Spurs would have probably been willing to match Liverpool’s offer of £7m upfront and modify their add-ons if they felt that might help them win the race for Diaz.
However, it was understandable why the winger preferred a move to Liverpool. That could prove to be a blessing in disguise for Spurs, given the promising start that Kulusevski has made to his Tottenham career.
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