Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders gave a fascinating insight into the pitch that the Merseyside club made to Luis Diaz before signing the Colombian winger.
Diaz moved to Anfield in the 2022 January transfer window. Liverpool paid Porto £37 million upfront for the winger, with the fee potentially rising to £49 million. The Reds swooped in for Diaz, who Spurs had been chasing for most of the transfer window.
Unfortunately for Tottenham, Liverpool pipped them to their primary transfer target. The North London side signed Dejan Kulusevski on transfer deadline day.
Diaz made an immediate impact on Merseyside, re-invigorating an attack that had lost its way after the Africa Cup of Nations. A month after his arrival, Liverpool picked up their first trophy of the season in the Carabao Cup final. Then, a few months later, they won the FA Cup, giving Diaz two trophies in his first season.
However, they could not make it a historic quadruple season. Liverpool narrowly missed out on the league title before losing the Champions League final. Despite the end-of-season disappointment, the Reds had a very strong year.
This arguably would not have been possible without Diaz’s impact. He got six goals and five assists for Liverpool in 2021/22. Heading into next season, fans and coaches will expect even more following Sadio Mane’s departure.
But the Colombian would have gone elsewhere if it wasn’t for an impressive sale pitch from Pep Lijnders and co.
Pep Lijnders reveals Liverpool pitch to Luis Diaz
Reminiscing about the January transfer window in his book “Intensity: Inside Liverpool FC – Our Identity”, Pep Lijnders revealed how Diaz’s move disrupted a holiday.
“I was on a skiing trip with my wife, Danielle, when our sporting director called me,” explained Lijnders, quotes via Liverpool Echo. “He said: ‘You and Jurgen have to speak with Luis Diaz in five minutes. We’ve just agreed with Porto, but Tottenham are all-in as well’.
“I joined the call, and Jurgen was explaining to Luis how he would fit into our style and that we would help him. He said in reference to me [joining the call], ‘but you will hear this guy much more often!’, to which I immediately said, ‘but I will explain things more calmly than Sergio [Conceicao]!’. Which made Luis laugh.”
“These two will make you a better player”
The Liverpool assistant manager then laid out his full pitch to the Colombian winger.
“I told him: ‘We want you desperately and have been pushing for the last one-and-a-half months with our owners and sporting director. But you know that these kinds of transfers are not easy to accomplish.
“The good thing is you will train with Virgil, Robbo and Trent,” Lijnders continued. “They will make you so much stronger. Our idea is to create and score; you will have to tear these guys apart each day in training, which will make you better.”
“His agent translated Jurgen’s message, and Julian Ward said, ‘these two will make you a better player’. I told him there were not many clubs with more history and culture than Porto, but Liverpool is one of them. Julian then walked with his phone to the trophy cabinet and finished with: ‘We want to add to his, and that’s why we want you’”.
After such a convincing pitch, Diaz was ready to select Merseyside over North London. Was it worth the distraction from his skiing trip? Lijnders certainly thought so.
“What started as a bad adventure on the slopes ended with an incredible signing. We signed the one we wanted. My crazy day couldn’t have ended better.”
Featured image credit: Getty
