Luis Diaz is closing in on a €75m move to Bayern Munich with the German champions advancing in talks with Liverpool.
Head coach Arne Slot decided to omit Diaz from Saturday’s 4-2 defeat to AC Milan because of the situation surrounding the winger and doubts about his future.
Bayern have been in persistent dialogue with Liverpool after having an initial approach rebuffed and then an offer of £58.5m rejected before they returned with a second bid of £65.5m.
Liverpool’s stance had been that the former Porto winger was not for sale but Diaz has been tempted by the prospect of a move to Bavaria.
Diaz had also attracted interest from Barcelona, who also made an inquiry, and Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr.
Liverpool’s view was that he was worth at least €100m but Bayern negotiated a lower figure as they looked for a replacement for Leroy Sane, who has joined Galatasaray. They also sold Mathys Tel to Tottenham while their attacking options have been depleted by the departure of Thomas Muller and the injury to Jamal Musiala.
Liverpool have spent around £250m this summer on Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez and, if Diaz went, he would help recoup some of that outlay. They also asked about Alexander Isak, who is considering exploring options away from Newcastle but who would command a huge fee.
Darwin Nunez is another who could leave Liverpool but Slot said his absence from the AC Milan game was down to injury.
