Due to Bayern Munich’s interest, Luis Diaz was left out of the preseason friendly loss to AC Milan, according to Arne Slot. Liverpool is now prepared for another offer from the Bundesliga winners. The Reds manager, however, stated that Darwin Nunez’s absence was only a precaution and that he anticipates the striker will be involved in next week’s match against Yokohama Marinos in Japan.
After talks between Liverpool and Bayern resumed earlier this week, Diaz did not play in Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Rossoneri. The German powerhouses are now anticipated to return with a better offer after rejecting a bid that fell short of £60 million earlier this month. After a season in which he scored 17 goals in all competitions, Diaz had hoped to begin contract negotiations with Anfield officials. However, the Reds have no plans to extend the terms for the 28-year-old, who is still bound by the same contract he signed when he joined in January 2022.
“In Lucho’s situation it was [linked to his future], yeah,” Slot said after the game in Hong Kong. “There are a lot of rumours around it lately and I cannot go into that. But he is training really well with us and we have decided, for now, not to play him yet.
“In Darwin’s situation, he has trained really well also and played a few good games for us already this pre-season. He was injured so we didn’t want to take the risk and it was also the same with Wataru Endo, trained with us all week but we didn’t want to take a risk with him either.
“So it is part of pre-season, the boys need to get towards match fitness and that is a thin balance, a thin line sometimes. We thought it was smarter for Darwin and Wata to sit it out today but I assume they will be with us when we are in Japan.”Slot continued: “Yes, I have had conversations with Diaz, but I usually speak with the majority of my players. Lucho is training really well, as I mentioned, but we have decided that it is best for him to not play in the games right now. I am unable to comment further than that. Does he wish to go? I am not the right person to inquire.
Liverpool had been reluctant to sell the former Porto winger and had already rejected an advance from Barcelona this summer before Bayern’s interest was firmed up this month.