Liverpool are close to completing their £50 million deal to sign winger Luis Diaz from Porto, with the Colombian having signed his contract and undergone a medical.
Diaz is currently on international duty with Colombia, playing the full 90 minutes in Friday’s 1-0 loss to Peru and due to start against Argentina on Tuesday.
But while away for World Cup qualifiers, the 25-year-old has been finalising his move from Portugal to England, with Liverpool having struck a deal worth up to £50 million with Porto.
The Reds are due to pay an initial £37.5 million, with a further £12.5 million in add-ons agreed, depending on the player’s performances and success at Anfield.
It has been a fast-moving process, with the club approaching Diaz on Thursday after learning of Tottenham‘s pursuit, the news then breaking in the early hours of Friday morning.
But nevertheless, the development of the winger’s impending switch to Merseyside has led to growing anticipation among supporters, with #AnnounceDiaz a common hashtag on social media.
Fans are likely to be forced to wait until deadline day before Diaz is officially unveiled as a Liverpool player, however.
Photos have already emerged of the goalscorer posing with the Liverpool shirt and signing his contract, and The Athletic’s James Pearce shared one of those with the caption: “On course for a Monday announcement.”
Given much of the formalities took place in Argentina, rather than the club’s training ground in Kirkby or inside Anfield – as is typically the case – there has been an understandable delay.
Bar a drastic turnaround, though, or a late issue emerging from Diaz’s medical, Porto’s No. 7 will join the Reds on Monday.
He is claimed to have agreed a five-year contract with Liverpool, with a salary of around £90,000 a week, which represents excellent business for the club.
That would be under half that earned by the Reds’ best-paid player, Virgil van Dijk, and is in line with their ethos of pay rises based on performance.
Diaz is likely to have a number of bonuses negotiated into his deal, while if he makes the impact many hope, he will almost certainly be rewarded with a sizeable increase in salary in the future.
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