Joan Laporta has confirmed that Barcelona were interested in signing Liverpool forward Luis Diaz before he moved to the Premier League.

Diaz signed for Liverpool in the January transfer window of this year after impressive displays for Portuguese side Porto. His performances in the Champions League were particularly impressive, earning him a move to the Premier League.

Diaz wouldn’t have been short of suitors during his time at Porto, and Spanish club Barcelona were one of the clubs who considered signing him before he joined Liverpool.

“We wanted to sign Luis Diaz, we were really interested in signing him and we even had talks with his agent,” said Laporta, as relayed by Fabrizio Romano. 

After seeing how Diaz settled in at Liverpool and had a positive effect on their side immediately, Barcelona will be gutted they couldn’t get a deal over the line.

Laporta also confirmed that Barcelona had financial issues, which have been well documented, so a deal to sign Diaz may have never been a real possibility.

As we saw in the summer transfer window, Barcelona are still one of the most attractive clubs for players in Europe, with the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, and Raphinha joining despite financial troubles.