Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich: Liverpool winger completes £65.5m transfer to Bundesliga champions

Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich: Liverpool winger completes £65.5m transfer to Bundesliga champions

Luis Diaz joined Liverpool in January 2022 in a £37.5m deal but has left with two years remaining on his contract; the Colombian also attracted interest from Barcelona but moves to Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich; Liverpool hold an interest in Newcastle forward Alexander Isak

Liverpool winger Luis Diaz has completed a £65.5m move to Bayern Munich.

Bayern beat Barcelona to the signature of Diaz, who leaves Anfield despite having two years left on his Liverpool contract.

Liverpool rejected Bayern’s initial advances and an offer believed to be in the region of £58.5m (€67m), but the Bundesliga champions returned with a second offer of £65.5m (€75m) including add-ons. The Reds accepted the offer after securing what the club considers to be full market value.

Two separate attempts from Liverpool to agree a contract extension with Diaz failed due to a gap between offers and demands, and after the winger helped deliver the club’s 20th Premier League title, Liverpool reluctantly agreed to his request to leave.

The Premier League champions have now generated more than £130m from sales this summer.

They rebuffed Bayern’s initial approach for Diaz but the money on offer was considered too good to reject for a player that turns 29 in five months.

Diaz had expressed a desire to leave and, with two years left on his contract, Liverpool felt there was little chance he would sign a renewal.

Liverpool are set to make a profit of around £22m on Diaz, who was signed from Porto in January 2022.

Will Liverpool move for Isak after Diaz sale?

It is understood Liverpool made an informal approach for Alexander Isak before signing Ekitike, but they remain huge admirers of the Newcastle striker.

Magpies boss Eddie Howe has admitted that Isak’s future may be out of his hands amid those intense links to Liverpool.

Sky Sports News also understands Isak has informed Newcastle he wants to explore his options this transfer window.

Quizzed about Isak’s future on Tuesday in Seoul, South Korea, Howe said: “He is still our player. He’s contracted to us. We, to a degree, control what is next for him.

“I would love to believe all possibilities are still available to us. My wish is that he stays, but that’s not in my full control.

“We have not received a formal offer for Alex, from any club. My wish is that he stays and we see him playing again next year.”

Isak has three years left to run on his current deal, so Newcastle are said to be in a strong bargaining position and value the player at £150m.

Last week, Howe confirmed that the Sweden international will not be playing a part in Newcastle’s pre-season tour after he informed the club he will be exploring his options.

Isak was sent home by Howe ahead of the 4-0 pre-season defeat to Celtic due to being affected by transfer speculation following an approach from Liverpool.

The striker then wasn’t part of the travelling party to East Asia, with Newcastle saying he was left at home due to a minor thigh issue and a long-haul flight wouldn’t have helped his recovery.

Liverpool transfers

In

Milos Kerkez – Bournemouth, £40m

Florian Wirtz – Bayer Leverkusen, £116m

Jeremie Frimpong – Bayer Leverkusen, £29.5m

Giorgi Mamardashvili – Valencia, £29m

Hugo Ekitike – Eintracht Frankfurt, £79m

Armin Pecsi – Puskas Akademia

Freddie Woodman – Preston, free

Out

Luis Diaz – Bayern Munich, £65.5m

Trent Alexander-Arnold – Real Madrid, £10m

Caoimhin Kelleher – Brentford, £18m

Jarell Quansah – Bayer Leverkusen, £35m

Nat Phillips – West Brom, £3m

Vitezslav Jaros – Ajax, loan

Owen Beck – Derby, loan