Decision made: winger will not join Barcelona this summer

It is no secret that Barcelona have been seriously considering a summer move for a new attack-minded player. But the chances of this happening look to have decreased now that sporting director Deco’s preferred target is unlikely to be available.

Over the last few months, Barcelona have been reported as having a strong interest in Luis Diaz, with that interest having been primarily driven by Deco. The Colombia international has not had the greatest season with Liverpool, but he has been seen as someone that would significantly improve Hansi Flick’s options on the left wing.

But things have taken a turn in recent weeks. Barcelona have started to lose interest in signing any attacker this summer, let alone Diaz, and now it is very unlikely that anything will happen with the Liverpool player.

That is because Sky (via Sport) have reported that Liverpool and Diaz are in talks over a new contract, and given that an agreement is expected to relatively straightforward, it would rule out any departure for him during the upcoming summer transfer window.

There has been some discontent among Liverpool supporters in regards to Diaz, but head coach Arne Slot is the one that has been pushing for the Colombia international to remain at Anfield. And with the Premier League title already wrapped up, negotiations have now started on this matter.

It was smart for Barcelona to move away from signing Diaz this summer, and after these developments, it means that a deal is no longer possible anyway. A deal with Liverpool would have been very expensive, and given their well-documented financial woes, it would have made little sense to sign him. It remains to be seen whether significant money is spent elsewhere, or if the club decides to save the limited funds that it has.