Barcelona have price tag in mind for Liverpool’s Diaz

Barcelona continue to pursue Luis Diaz, despite several obstacles in the way of a potential move. The Blaugrana have made him their top priority for the summer transfer window, and feel that Liverpool will be open to a sale due to their own transfer activity.

It was quite obviously leaked that Liverpool had rejected an approach from Barcelona for Diaz earlier this month, with the word from Merseyside that they are not interested in selling the Colombian winger. Barcelona took this as a negotiation tactic, and were encouraged by Diaz himself less than 24 hours later, with the star forward declaring publicly that he was in discussions with other clubs.

Even so, Barcelona will have to find space in their salary limit to register Diaz. As per El Chiringuito, they have a positive feeling about a deal, following reports that Liverpool have now opened the door to negotiations. The Catalan giants feel they can get a deal done for around €60m, and if they cannot, then they will turn attentions to Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford.

Barcelona are operating on the assumption that if Liverpool complete a deal for Florian Wirtz, and make a move for another forward (they have been linked to Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola), then Diaz will become both surplus to requirements, and a valuable way of raising funds.

Spoken about much less in Barcelona is their lack of salary limit space. The 28-year-old will no doubt arrive with a significant salary, and while any deal could be split across five years, they would likely require at least €20m in their salary limit to register him – if they are in the so-called 1:1 rule. In order to be in that position, they may need to make a big sale themselves, with the likes of Fermin Lopez and Ronald Araujo linked to a move.