Liverpool is on course for the Premier League title this year, but there’s already an eye on 2025/26. Having not yet reached contract extensions with the club, key figures Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold may leave during a summer of flux. Also subject to a possible move away is Luis Díaz.

Reports like this one (Spanish) from Diario AS last month indicate Barcelona and sporting director Deco’s long-term interest in Díaz. And the Blaugrana would attract the winger. As early as November 2023, his father, Luis Manuel, told Colombian outlet Win Sports that Díaz is “a loyal follower of Barcelona and it would be his dream to get there” (Spanish). Playing in a land where they speak his mother tongue, and with La Liga challenging the Premier League’s popularity in South America, is an attractive proposition.

However, Barcelona faces a battle to capture such highly-rated players. It has previously struggled to register names such as Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor, and it must comply with the 1:1 ruling—essentially making and saving as much money as it spends—to keep its accounts under control. This simple restraint is looser than before, and its squad budget has risen by just over €37 million ($40 million). Still, Díaz’s deal with the Reds runs until 2027; he won’t come cheap soon, and Barça will need to fund his signing and wages.

Moreover, with a few players’ future in doubt, Liverpool probably wants to avoid a total overhaul this summer. Equally, especially after letdowns in the Champions League and the cup competitions, Díaz has more dreams to chase at Anfield, knowing that head coach Arne Slot’s promising project remains in the embryonic stages. He’s settled well on Merseyside, building tight bonds with fellow pros like Darwin Núñez and Alexis Mac Allister, and knows the Kop’s rocking song about his path to Merseyside and goalscoring endeavors.

Díaz started 2024/25 on fire, collecting five goals in as many domestic outings and silencing any criticism of his offensive output. Maintaining that would always prove demanding, and this conversion rate has since decreased, yet he’s a constant runner up and down the flank and trusted to play as a center forward. Plus, his league-scoring tally of nine is better than last term, with more matches still to come.

Regardless, what can become lost—especially when there are results to achieve and glory on the line as the matches dry up—is an athlete’s personality. Díaz has overcome adversity at Liverpool. In late 2023, his parents were kidnapped across the Atlantic Ocean in Colombia, with Luis Manuel kept for almost two weeks; the season before, he sat out most of the action due to a knee injury. Well before all that, he ran and dribbled away from the threat of poverty and a lack of opportunities in his homeland’s La Guajira region.

A landmark in Diaz’s career, as much as any keenly awaited final, was his inclusion in the Copa Americana de Pueblos Indígenas—or the America’s Cup for Indigenous Peoples—a decade ago. Eligible for the event because of his connection to the Wayuu community, the skinny youngster broke onto the scene, and you see the same high-energy force today at Liverpool, albeit in a much-changed elite environment of sports science. The upshot? Bring back the brilliantly conceived tournament and see whom Díaz has inspired.

As for the near to mid-term outlook, the latest is Barça appearing to plot a more concrete route to land Díaz (Spanish) in either a matter of months or 2026, setting aside between €70 million ($76 million) and €75 million ($82 million), according to SPORT. However, as noted before, there are variables, namely the transfer market’s domino effect. Until then, Barcelona and the Reds have other targets, namely claiming silverware, before any pieces start moving. Diaz’s time with Liverpool, a huge name itself, isn’t over.