Barcelona target CLOSE to Liverpool exit

Updated: 21 Aug 2023 13:16 BST
4 min read

Barcelona target Fabricio Diaz is on the verge of leaving Liverpool Montevideo, but the midfielder is set to join Brighton & Hove Albion rather than the Blaugrana, according to reports.

Diaz, 20, joined Liverpool’s U19 side from fellow Uruguayan outfit La Paz in 2016 and is now set to leave his home country to join Premier League side Brighton.

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Uruguayan outlet El Pais have reported that: “Fabricio Díaz could be ‘living his last days’ as a Liverpool Montevideo player as he’s now closing in on a move to Brighton, who ‘arrived strongly’ in recent hours.”

This has been backed up by VTV Uruguay, who have revealed that Diaz has confirmed his move away from Liverpool is “very advanced.”

Barcelona have previously been heavily linked with a move for Diaz and held strong interest in the player back in April.

Sport reported that Xavi saw Diaz as a possible long-term heir to Sergio Busquets, who has left the club to join Inter Miami. Instead, Barca have added Oriol Romeu as a short-term fix, while they assess a more lengthy plan to replace Busquets in the defensive midfield role.

In fact, Liverpool Montevideo reportedly priced Diaz at €6 million when Barcelona registered interest, a price that now looks a steal considering his ETV stands at €8.4m after a drastic rise over the past two months.

Diaz was one of the stars of the U20 World Cup earlier this summer, although Italy and Chelsea midfielder Cesare Casadei beat him to the Golden Ball award, and he captained Uruguay to victory in the tournament.

Despite his youthful age, he has already made 121 senior appearances for Liverpool Montevideo, scoring five goals and providing seven assists.

© ProShots - Fabricio Diaz is set to join Brighton

Diaz to Brighton?

Interest from Barcelona has seemingly cooled following the summer arrivals of Ilkay Gundogan and Romeu, which has allowed Brighton to swoop.

The Seagulls have sold Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo for an initial combined €158m and have money to spend on signing replacements.

So far this summer, Roberto De Zerbi’s side have picked up Mahmoud Dahoud and James Milner on free transfers, while they have spent €71.2m on Joao Pedro, Bart Verbruggen and Igor.