"We had a conversation with his representative" - Joan Laporta confirms Barcelona wanted to sign Liverpool attacker last January
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has admitted that the Blaugrana were interested in signing Luis Diaz before he joined Liverpool in January this year.
The Reds bought Diaz from Portuguese club FC Porto for a deal worth up to €60 million in the last winter transfer window. Tottenham Hotspur's interest in the attacker prompted them to bring their plans forward after initially planning to sign him in the summer.
The Colombia international has since been an important player for Jurgen Klopp's side. He has scored 10 goals and provided eight assists in 38 matches across all competitions for them so far.
Diaz is thus already proving to be a massive coup for the Merseyside-based club. It appears Tottenham were not the only side the English giants beat to the attacker's signature.
Laporta has confirmed that Barcelona were also in the race to sign Diaz from Porto in January. The Catalans even held talks with the 25-year-old's agent, according to the club president.
However, the Blaugrana could not step up their interest in the winger due to financial constraints if Laporta is to be believed. He told a press conference [via GOAL]:
"At that time we had just landed at the club and Liverpool beat us to it, but we were considering bringing [Diaz] in. But we were in an economic situation that we had to resolve and reverse. Liverpool were ahead of us."
"He's a great player who has a great sense of belonging to Liverpool and I'm not going to talk about it anymore, but we were interested at the time. We had a conversation with his representative, but they already had it very advanced [with Liverpool]."
#FCB
Barça president Laporta reveals: "We wanted to sign Luis Diaz, we were really interested in signing him and we even had talks with his agent". 🇨🇴 #FCB
"The truth is that we had just arrived at the club and we had financial problems. And so... Liverpool signed him" #LFC https://t.co/u3Sf6HJj77
It is worth noting that Diaz has not featured for the Reds since their 2-1 loss to Arsenal in the Premier League last month. He suffered an injury during the match and will now only return to action after the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
How have Barcelona and Liverpool fared this term?
Barcelona currently sit at the top of the La Liga table with 37 points from 14 matches. They have won 12, drawn one and lost one of their games so far and enjoy a two-point lead over Real Madrid.
The Anfield outfit, on the other hand, are placed sixth in the Premier League standings after 14 matches. They have 22 points to their name, having won six, drawn four and lost four of their games.
Barcelona, though, have been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League after they finished third in their group. The Reds are scheduled to face their arch-rivals Real Madrid in the Round of 16 of the competition.