Saudi’s Luis Diaz interest is “real” – Liverpool have no intention to sell

July 19, 2023
Adam Beattie

Interest from the Saudi Pro League in Luis Diaz appears to be genuine, but Liverpool have yet to be hit with an approach.

Portuguese outlet Record reported on Tuesday that Al-Hilal were lining up a £43 million bid to bring the Colombian to the Middle East, with Fabinho and Jordan Henderson having both already agreed terms to join the Premier League exodus.

Now, the Times‘ Paul Joyce, alongside the Colombian reporter who reported Diaz’s move to Anfield, Pipe Sierra, has confirmed that Diaz is the latest Liverpool player to have “attracted interest” from Saudi Arabia.

Al-Hilal have yet to make a formal offer for the forward, but Joyce has insisted that the Reds have no intention to sell and the reported £43 million figure would fall well below any expectations from the club.

? The interest of #AlHilal ?? in Luis Díaz (26) is real. However, no offer has come to #Liverpool, but at the moment the club has no intention to sell the player. Info with @_pauljoyce ???

? In addition, the ‘Reds’ consider that £50M would be a very low offer for him pic.twitter.com/IoQrkmYLwi

— Pipe Sierra (@PSierraR) July 18, 2023

Andy Hunter of the Guardian has reinforced the position that Diaz is not for sale, but that a bid from Al-Hilal is expected shortly.

Liverpool’s reluctance to let go of their new No. 7 comes as two of their midfielders look set to make the switch to the Saudi Pro League.

Fabinho is closing in on a £40 million move to Al-Ittihad, while Henderson has agreed terms to join Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq despite talks having seemingly stalled over a transfer fee.

Diaz made an impressive start to 2022/23, racking up four goals and three assists in all competitions before a knee injury kept him out of action for around six months.

He joined the club from Porto only 18 months ago for a fee just shy of £50 million, highlighting how inadequate the reported figures coming from Saudi Arabia currently are.

The Reds’ stance appears to be that there is no intention to let another of their key men consider a move to the ever-growing league and it would certainly take a great deal more than the money that looks likely to be tabled in the coming days.

As we’ve seen with the Henderson story, Saudi clubs appear to have a plan to unsettle players and therefore force fees down. Liverpool should not entertain such nonsense.