Focus returned to on-pitch matters for Liverpool on Saturday as they faced AC Milan in Hong Kong.
The Reds have been stationed in the Far East since arriving on Monday, and finally got down to business at the Kai Tak Stadium.
But, while there were plenty of talking points from Liverpool’s 4-2 defeat, transfer talk has still found a way to dominate proceedings.
There was big news pre-match, as it emerged that Luis Diaz would play no part in the matchday squad.
Diaz has been heavily linked with Bayern Munich, and his absence from the group suggested he could soon be on his way to Germany.
Arne Slot confirmed Diaz had been left out for transfer related reasons post-match, and this was followed with an update from journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Liverpool ready to accept Luis Diaz wish to leave
Liverpool supporters have perhaps already started to accept that Diaz will be leaving this summer.
However, until very recently, the insistence from the Reds was that he would be going absolutely nowhere.
Speaking on his YouTube channel on Saturday afternoon, though, Romano said that Liverpool’s stance is now starting to change.
“Diaz is the important one,” he said, after providing the latest on Darwin Nunez. “Until today we always saw a situation where Liverpool wanted to keep the player, but now it looks like Liverpool are willing to accept the desire of the player. Luis was not even playing, not even on the bench.”
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“Bayern are in daily contact with Liverpool, they are talking on a daily basis, waiting for a new bid. Luis is pushing to go, he wants to try something new.
“Liverpool want the price to be respected but Bayern will be back to the table and back with an important proposal,” Romano adds. “Their plan B – Malick Fofana – is getting closer to Everton, they have sent a bid to Lyon.”
What about Darwin Nunez?
Another player left out of the squad entirely on Saturday was Darwin Nunez. But while Slot put the striker’s absence down to injury, Romano says it is still completely sure that Nunez will leave as well.
“On Darwin Nunez, I keep telling you since February, he is leaving this summer and that remains the case,” says the transfer expert.
“It’s something that both sides want. Darwin wants to try something new, Liverpool want to sell Darwin, so it’s a mutual feeling with interest from the Saudi Pro League still there. Let’s see if some European club will jump into this opportunity.”
His exit may not be as far along as Diaz, then, but it seems that Nunez departing Liverpool is no less certain this summer.
In the meantime, one player mooted as a potential Diaz replacement, Fofana, looks like he’s heading to Merseyside, but, amazingly, the blue half.
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