Liverpool transfer news: "Very interesting" Luis Diaz claim emerges involving PL rivals

Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge insists that Liverpool’s deal to sign Luis Diaz was essentially arranged for the summer but that it was brought forward after Tottenham Hotspur tabled a bid for the player in January.

Spurs made a real attempt to secure the signature of the winger, even seeing a £37.6m bid rejected by Porto but he has ended up at Anfield. 

They finished the transfer window with just the signing of Diaz, while Antonio Conte’s side secured the signatures of both Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus.

The first has come in initially on loan, while the latter is a permanent deal, and both were announced on transfer deadline day.

Liverpool, by comparison, attempted to sign Fabio Carvalho from Fulham on deadline day but saw the deal ultimately fall through prior to the transfer deadline. 

Still, they have managed to bring Diaz into the club as they look to bolster their chances of challenging for the Premier League title; Jurgen Klopp's side are currently nine points behind leaders Manchester City with a game in hand. 

Bridge has now confirmed that colleagues have informed him that Liverpool had essentially struck an agreement to sign the Colombia international at the end of the season and brought it forward after learning of Spurs’ interest.

Diaz was impressive for Porto throughout his time there, scoring 41 goals and registering 19 assists in 125 games, and he has moved to the Reds for a fee of £37.5m.

He told GiveMeSport: "The Diaz one is interesting. The information from Liverpool colleagues, they said that Liverpool were going to sign Diaz in the summer and they've just literally done it early because of Tottenham's interest, which I found very interesting."

Aubameyang exit DONE. More on