Barcelona upset as €80m forward chooses Liverpool

Nico Williams will soon be announced as a Barcelona player. The Athletic Club winger has been the subject of intense transfer speculation for a couple of years now, and finally it looks like his saga will have a resolution.

At one stage the 22-year-old appeared to be a target for Liverpool - but his long-term future now lies in Spain. And the reason Nico has ended up with Barca has a lot to do with Luis Diaz.

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It’s no secret that the Catalans had the Liverpool winger in their sights for quite a while before alighting on Williams. He has been described as Barca sporting director Deco’s DREAM signing.

READ MORE: Journalist hints at SEISMIC Liverpool transfer in the works

But with a hefty price tag - and Barca’s well-documented financial issues - signing the 28-year-old always looked like a pipe dream for the Spanish champions.

Barca tried to pressure Diaz

Liverpool are not seeking to offload the 13-goal forward but would of course do business if the price was right. The Reds’ sporting director Richard Hughes would settle for around €80m - far too high for Barca.

And it has now been claimed that the Blaugrana were attempting to exert pressure on Diaz in order to help facilitate the move.

Mundo Deportivo reports that Barca have been left “upset” because Diaz didn’t agitate hard enough for a transfer.

“Joan Laporta and Deco's plan was for the 28-year-old Colombian striker, who has a contract until 2027, to put heavy pressure on Liverpool three weeks ago, also through his agent,” a report reads.

“The goal was to create a favorable environment for negotiations that would lead to a transfer to Barça.

“Barça hoped that pressure from Díaz and his representative would pave the way for negotiations with Liverpool, with the aim of ultimately reducing the transfer fee to around 60 million euros.”

Barca upset by Diaz

Aside from mentioning talks with other clubs while on international duty with Colombia, Diaz has stayed largely silent.

“This position left Barça upset,” the report continues.

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Currently on vacation following his marriage to Gera Ponce, the forward has not put any significant pressure on his club to let him go.

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And in turn that means Barca have now activated Plan B - which is to trigger Nico Williams’ reported €60m release clause. And so Diaz probably won’t be moving to Barcelona this summer - with their plans for the winger up in smoke.