Top facts about Luis Diaz, Noodle

Luis Fernando Diaz Marulanda (born 13 January 1997) is a Colombian pro footballer who currently performs as a forward for Liverpool in the Premier League and for the Colombian national team.

Luis Diaz age

is 25. Here you can find out the most important facts about Luis Diaz, the Reds’ new signing.

The first fact about

is that he started his professional career with Barranquilla in Colombia's Second Division, then moved to Junior, where he won Categora Primera A, one Copa Colombia, and one Superliga Colombiana.

He joined Porto for a reported €7 million in 2019, winning the Primeira Liga, one Taça de Portugal, and one Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, as well as being a member of the team that won the domestic double in 2020.

After scoring 14 goals in 18 league games in his third half-season, his goalscoring abilities piqued the curiosity of numerous English teams, with Liverpool buying him for €45 million (£37.5 million) in 2022.

In 2018, Diaz made his senior international debut for Colombia. He has over 30 appearances for his country, leading them to a third-place finish at the 2021 Copa America, when he shared the Golden Boot with Argentina's Lionel Messi as the tournament's best scorers.

Top facts about Luis Diaz:

Jürgen Klopp expressed his delight at the signing of Luis Diaz from FC Porto, “I could not be happier that we’ve been able to get this deal done and bring Luis to

.

“I have always been a believer in only signing players in January if you would want to sign them in the summer, and that’s very much the case with Luis. “He is an outstanding player and someone we’ve been tracking for a very long time.

“We believe he has everything needed to fit into our way and adapt to the Premier League, both physically and mentally. He is a player who is hungry for success and knows you have to fight to get what you want. He is a fighter, no doubt. He’s a skillful team player who has always the goal in mind.

“This team deserved to add quality and when we played against Luis earlier this season, we saw what a danger he is, how fast he is and how his mentality was to help his team.

“We know Porto is an outstanding club who nurture players in the best possible way and provide a brilliant football education. They are a class club and, I have to say, have been tough negotiators.”

Luis Diaz early life

Diaz comes from one of the poorest areas of his country, where many youngsters of Wayuu ethnicity suffer from malnutrition. He wasn't an exception, and after joining Barranquilla, he required a bulking-up diet to deal with the demands of the sport.

Speaking about

Luis Diaz childhood

, it should be mentioned that he used to witness trains hauling coal from Cerrejon's mines heading for Europe whiz through his town when he was a boy. Unfortunately, there is no information regarding

Luis Diaz parents

.

It gave him hope and an ambition of escaping his humble beginnings for a better life. He was one of 380,000 Wayuu people who live in the La Guajira area, Colombia's biggest indigenous ethnic group.

His escape from reality was kicking a football around. However, for a promising player, growing up in the Wayuu way of life had its drawbacks.

Luis Diaz personal life

Luis Diaz, a footballer, and Gera Ponce, a Colombian housewife, have yet to marry and accept her as his legally married wife.

Ponce keeps her personal life secret; therefore, she hasn't revealed much about her job thus far. Luis's life partner and a mother of one.

Gera and Luis have been spotted posting images of themselves together on their social media sites. She has always been the footballer's greatest fan and has always pushed him to be the best on the field.

Gera and Luis met while they were adolescents and began dating in 2016. She had only known him since she was 13 years old. They were merely friends at the time, and getting into a relationship took five to six years.

Furthermore, the couple has begun their family with the birth of their first child. On the occasion of Christmas, Luis was spotted exchanging photos with his family.

Luis Diaz professional career

Diaz started his professional football career as a midfielder in the Colombian club Barranquilla about six years ago.

In 2017, he moved to the Colombian club, Atlético Juno. There, he started showing signs of being a clever attacker with speed, trickery, and composed finishing. He did not go unnoticed and joined FC Porto in 2019. Then, Liverpool bought the Colombian winger for a deal worth €60 million from FC Porto.

Luis Diaz club career

Diaz was born in Barrancas, La Guajira, and his Wayuu ethnicity earned him a spot in Colombia's 22-man team for the 2015 Copa Americana de Pueblos Indigenas.

Atlético Junior

During excelling throughout the competition, he signed with Atlético Junior after a trial period in 2016, and was immediately sent to Barranquilla FC's farm squad.

An important

fact about Luis Diaz

is that he was malnourished, a common problem among the Wayuu people, and Barranquilla prescribed a regimen to help him gain 10 kg.

In April 26, 2016, Diaz made his senior debut, coming on as a second-half replacement in a 2–1 Categora Primera B home defeat to

. On 14 May, he scored the game-winning goal in a 2–1 victory against Ccuta Deportivo at home.

Diaz was promoted to Junior's main squad on June 6, 2017, after making his first team debut in the year's Copa Colombia.

On August 27, he made his Categora Primera A debut, replacing Matas Mier in a 3–2 defeat at Once Caldas, and scored his first goal on September 20 in a 3–1 Copa Sudamericana home triumph over Cerro Porteo.

During the 2018 season, Diaz established himself as a regular starter and scored his first goal in the top flight on February 4th, when he scored the game's lone goal in a home win against Atlético Bucaramanga. He also scored braces against Once Caldas, Atlético Huila, and Rionegro Guilas, totaling 16 goals for the season.

Porto

On July 10, 2019, Diaz signed a five-year deal with

in Portugal, with the club paying €7 million for 80 percent of his economic rights.

Zenit Saint Petersburg had also shown interest in signing him, but he was persuaded by fellow countrymen Radamel Falcao and James Rodrguez, as well as his national coach, Carlos Queiroz.

A notable

fact about Luis Diaz

is that he made his UEFA Champions League first qualifying round first leg debut on 7 August as a 55th-minute replacement for Romário Baró, and scored his first goal six days later in the return game, albeit in a 3–2 defeat at the Estádio do Drago.

Domestically, he made his Primeira Liga debut as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat against Gil Vicente on 10 August, and a week later, as a starter, he scored for the first time in a 4–0 home triumph over Vitória de Guimares.

He was banned from the derby against Boavista in November, along with Mateus Uribe, Agustn Marchesn, and Renzo Saravia, for partying the night before.

Diaz made 50 appearances and scored 14 goals in his debut season in Portugal, helping Porto win the league and the Taça de Portugal. He was sent off after 38 minutes in the final of the latter on August 1, 2020, in a 2–1 victory against Benfica at the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra.

In the 2020–21 season, he made his UEFA Champions League debut on October 21, 2020, in a 1–3 loss against

. Diaz came in as a 77th-minute replacement for Mehdi Taremi in the 2020 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira against O Clássico rivals

on December 23, and scored to seal a 2–0 victory.

He was sent off in a 1–1 tie with Braga in a cup semi-final the following 10 February for inadvertently fracturing David Carmo's leg; compatriot Uribe was also ejected. On September 11, 2021, Daz drew 1–1 with Sporting CP on the road.

An important fact about Luis Diaz is that he scored the lone goal in a 1–0 UEFA Champions League group stage victory against A.C. Milan on October 9th.

With two goals in a 4–0 win against Moreirense on November 1, he had five goals in his first six league games, the most in the league; 27 days later, he scored his tenth, a long-range effort in a 2–1 win over Vitória de Guimares, earning him the Primeira Liga Goal of the Month title.

For the months of October and November, he was selected Player of the Month and Forward of the Month by the league. Diaz was awarded the league's Forward of the Month for the second consecutive month on December 19, after scoring four goals and adding three assists.

Liverpool

A notable fact about Luis Diaz is that he signed for Premier League club Liverpool for a reported €45 million (£37.5 million) with €15 million (£12.5 million) in add-ons on 30 January 2022, while on international duty for Colombia in Argentina, with a contract length of five years, subject to the successful granting of a work permit and international clearance.

Tottenham Hotspur had shown interest in Diaz before he signed with Liverpool. Liverpool revised their summer plans after learning of Tottenham's approach and chose to sign Diaz on a permanent basis after impressing Liverpool boss

.

Luis Diaz international career

An important fact about Luis Diaz is that he was called up to the national team on August 27, 2018, for friendlies against Venezuela and Argentina, after representing Colombia at under-20 level in the 2017 South American U-20 Championship.

On September 11, he made his complete international debut in a 0–0 draw against Juan Cuadrado at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

On March 26, 2019, Diaz scored his first international goal in a 2–1 friendly defeat to South Korea. Carlos Queiroz' 23-man roster for the 2019 Copa América in Brazil included him. Diáz has been named to Colombia's Copa América team for 2021.

With an acrobatic volley on June 23, he scored the opening goal in a 2–1 first-round defeat to hosts Brazil, and on July 6, he scored their goal in a semi-final draw against Argentina, which culminated in an Argentine triumph after a penalty shoot-out.

A notable fact about Luis Diaz is that he scored twice in a 3–2 triumph against Peru in the third-place match three days later, including the game-winning goal. Along with Lionel Messi, he finished as the tournament's equal best scorers.

Luiz Diaz strengths at Liverpool

Liverpool swooped in and gazumped Tottenham Hotspur and

this week after learning that the two Premier League clubs were preparing moves for a player the Reds had set their sights on signing in the summer of 2022, finally putting an end to a decade of wild A Bola fabrications about expensive Liga Bwin wingers moving to Anfield on at least a permanent basis.

The price tag of £50 million, including all potential add-ons, is not insignificant, but the fact that £37.5 million will be paid out over three years, with an additional £12.5 million contingent on player performance milestones that may or may not be realistically achieved, makes it sound a lot more like a Liverpool deal.

Regardless, the most crucial consideration is whether or not the player can perform at the level necessary for a squad competing for all of football's major awards.

If you've been paying attention to how Liverpool has recruited attackers over the last half-decade, you'll recognize a lot of this. Luis Diaz is a quick wide forward who pushes, advances the ball efficiently, and shoots like a striker. That's the persona. That's always the case with the profile. Now for the finer points.

Diaz, who is widely regarded as the finest player in the Primeira Liga so far this season, has mostly acquired that reputation via his goal-scoring prowess.

While he shares first place in the non-penalty goals category with fellow big-club transfer target Darwin Nez with 14 goals, the Colombian has also added four assists, bringing his goal output to one goal or assist per 84 minutes on the field.

The shot map of the 25-year-old isn't that of a player who got fortunate with some worldies. With an average anticipated goals value per shot of 0.17, which is exactly in the middle of Diogo Jota's 0.20 and

's 0.14, and similar to Sadio Mané, he has taken 83 percent of his shoots from within the penalty area, up from 64 percent the previous two seasons.

While the highlight packages will undoubtedly concentrate on his two or three long-range bombs, Diaz shots are normally one of two types: driving towards and wrong-footing a defender in the box before finishing on the inside or outside, or ghosting in at the back post for a tap-in.

These kinds of goals will be familiar to anybody who has followed Jürgen Klopp's Reds in recent years, and they imply the new guy will be a natural match stylistically.

While the Barrancas-born forward is hot on the scoring front, his teammates are not, and Diaz might have had a few more assists this season if the rest of the Porto club had performed at his level.

A notable fact about Luis Diaz is that he has picked up 5.7 anticipated assists on 38 total important passes, for an average of 0.15 projected goals per opportunity created. They're made in the same way they've always been made: driving to the byline or close to it, then slipping the ball across the box or cutting it back for a better-positioned teammate to score.

Diaz speed is perhaps his most well-known ability; he was reportedly timed at 35.5 km/h in the Champions League this season, and once he gets into his stride, the Colombian is a nightmare for opponents.

He uses his speed to torch defenders, averaging 2.7 successful dribbles per 90 minutes, good for ninth in the Primeira, and it's his rhythm and body position manipulation at speed that stands out, the ability to square up to his man while at full sprint without losing speed, then shift his hips or drop his shoulders and race away again.

A notable fact about Luis Diaz is that he will drop deep and seek to carry the ball up the field on a frequent basis, despite beginning on the left flank. This season, the 25-year-old was Porto's primary ball progressor, with 4.45 progressive passes and 9.25 progressive carries per 90 minutes.

He is a key component of Liverpool's base play, complementing Trent Alexander-passing Arnold's on the opposite side, and would rank in the top ten in the Premier League among names like

, Bernardo Silva, and

.

Finally, the newly-minted Red is not averse to defensive effort, averaging 12.4 presses per 90 minutes this season for the Drages, and he will gladly confront a dallying fullback or block off a passing channel if directed.

Luis Diaz possible weaknesses at Liverpool

There will always be concerns regarding a player's ability to convert their output when going from a lesser to a higher league. The Premier League stands apart even among Europe's other top five leagues, and Portugal's Primeira Liga is not one of them.

An important fact about Luis Diaz is that he will have to adjust to a faster pace, better athletes, and more harsh officials, and experience has proven that it is impossible to anticipate how effectively he will do so.

While Diaz is quite tough to catch while in his stride, his initial step lacks directional thrust, and he normally takes four or five steps to get up to speed.

When you combine his stop-start dribbling technique, which frequently sees him forced backwards whenever he comes to a halt, with a lack of physical power, it's fair to wonder whether his method will be successful against the kind of fullbacks that generally occupy the positions in the Premier League.

While Colombia's performance this season has been outstanding, it is also worth mentioning that this is the first and only time it has ever looked like this.

The 25-year-old doubled his shot volume and quality this season, and although some progress due to an upgrade in the daily performance environment is likely probable, it would be a reach to expect him to have another one of those in him at this point.

As a result, Liverpool is counting on the last six months to be the new normal for a player who had previously been all dribble and little end product.

Diaz pressing stats have been slashed in half over the previous two seasons, implying that even if he does immediately transfer his goals and assists from the Portuguese League, it will most likely be while pushing like Mohamed Salah rather than

. Of course, this isn't to be dismissed, Mohamed Salah isn't a slacker defender, but the cost is worth noting.

Finally, because of the player's salary and age, this is likely to be Liverpool's sole offensive pivot this season. This implies there will be no Nkunku, Raphinha, Adeyemi, or any other offensive targets for Liverpool this summer.

Moving six months early relieves some of the burden for now, giving him more time to integrate before he is expected to deliver, but when the time comes, he will be expected to play at the same level as Sadio Mané and Diego Jota.

Luis Diaz and comparisons to Ronaldo

Luis Diaz might be the next great thing to come out of Portugal. After all, you don't receive the moniker "Colombian Cristiano Ronaldo" for nothing.

Diaz's worldie against Brazil at the Copa America last summer may have been the first time English-speaking viewers saw him. Since then, he's scarcely escaped the gossip mill, and videos of him captivating defenders and fooling keepers abound on the internet. Manchester United and Liverpool are said to have had a closer look at the player before making a purchase.

"Luis Diaz is a very unusual winger; he can cut in or run to the byline, he's a wonderful dribbler, and he constantly generates excitement on the ball," says Zach Lowy, a writer for the Breaking the Lines podcast who follows Portuguese football. Of course, with so many elite players breaking through in the Primeira Liga right now, it's an interesting league to cover.

Diaz has only been playing in Europe for three years. After receiving attention from Zenit, the winger left Atletico Junior for Porto, following in the footsteps of Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez. The fact that national coach Carlos Queiroz is Portuguese undoubtedly influenced the selection.

Since then, he's made a steady stream of appearances for the Dragons, scoring six league goals in each of the previous two seasons. This season, it's skyrocketed, with the Colombian already having 14 goals.

Jurgen Klopp was said to be looking for him to replace Sadio Mane before Christmas, and he might have his choice of Premier League clubs at the conclusion of the season.

Top English clubs are also no strangers to Portuguese signings. Ruben Dias and Bruno Fernandes are two exceptional Premier League players who have made the transition from Primeira Liga; however, Zach believes Diaz would start for any of Europe's top clubs.

"I believe he'd fit in with almost any club," he adds. "Obviously, he has to move somewhere better than Porto, which isn't simple. He can play for a variety of teams, including Barcelona and PSG, and he's just 25 years old, so he still has a lot of space to grow.”

"He's fragile, but I don't believe the Prem's physicality would be a concern; he understands how to ride tackles and get into dangerous situations with his body. He's already Portugal's finest player, and I believe he has the potential to be world-class."

Luis Diaz style of play

Despite being a right-footed player, Diaz is nearly usually fielded on the left flank for both Porto and Colombia.

An important

fact about Luis Diaz

is that he spends all of his time on the left, as seen in his heat maps. Diaz is an excellent example of an inverted winger, a new strategy in which wingers play on the side of their weaker foot. While this may seem to be a disadvantage, it can also be quite useful if done well, since it provides additional attacking possibilities.

When on the left, he prefers to remain wide and maintain his width, with the deeper colors of the heatmap near to the touchline on the left-hand side rather than drifting infield, as an inverted winger might occasionally do. Diaz can cut inside onto his preferred right foot when playing on the left, but it also enables overlapping fullbacks to get by him.

You can't help but notice Luis Diaz's exceptional dribbling abilities; he has excellent ball control and the ability to move the ball away from opponents in an instant. Diaz likes to cut in into his right foot.

This is a vital characteristic of many inverted wingers, but Diaz is one of the greatest at it. Because Diaz is such a dangerous dribbler, opposing fullbacks like to leave him room because if they go too close, they will commit fouls and be beaten more easily. Allowing him room enables him to transfer the ball to his right foot, which often results in goals.

Diaz's location is one of the most intriguing aspects of his game; as previously said, he is an inverted winger who plays on the left while being right-footed; when this is the case, players tend to play much more centrally than Diaz does.

This poses a serious problem for defenders, as they must choose between being compact or losing compactness while someone remains close Diaz. By maintaining his breadth, the back four lose their compactness, making space for a midfielder runner. But, more crucially, it provides Diaz with room to maneuver.

A progressive carry occurs when a player carries the ball for more than 5 meters towards the opposing goal. Diaz leads the Primeira Liga in this category, as we've previously established, and it's easy to see why when you see him play. Diaz is a fantastic dribbler, as he has previously shown, and this skill transfers well to his carrying abilities.

The leading scorer for Portugal's best team. Every 90 minutes of league play, more than one goal or assist is scored. Two goals in the same Champions League group as the club interested in signing him and the Copa America's joint top scorer, along with Lionel Messi.

The broad strokes of offensive play that have drawn Liverpool to Luis Diaz are simple to observe, with the Reds now have captured the FC Porto wide man before the transfer deadline on Monday.

But there's a lot more to his game and personality than goalscoring – as significant as that component may be in convincing one of Europe's best clubs to pay a lot of money for him.

A combination of explosive acceleration, straight running, and the ability to go with both feet past defenders make him very tough to stop – and a thundering finish at the conclusion of his runs ensures that all eyes are attracted to him.

He is in the top ten among strikers and wingers in the Liga NOS for critical passes per 90 minutes, successful dribbles, and shoots, and he is the league's leading scorer for shots inside the penalty box. For the last few of years, a string of stunning goals and transfer whispers have made him an easy-to-watch player, and his consistency has made it worthwhile.

The usual caveats and criticisms about top players in supposedly inferior divisions will be raised, but it's worth mentioning that he's already scored against the defending champions Sporting CP and Sporting Braga, Portugal's perennial fourth-best club.

He was unable to play against Benfica in the league, but he did assist against them in the cup. Diaz has also made an impact in the Champions League. He was the team's strongest danger against Liverpool in two losses in Group B this season, and he scored both at home and away against AC Milan.

Diaz earned his international debut shortly after England's penalty shootout victory over Colombia in the 2014 World Cup, making his debut only a few months later. He rapidly established himself as an impact sub, appearing three times in the 2019 Copa America for a total of slightly over 100 minutes.

The gap in his place in the squad in the same event last summer demonstrates the extent of his growth in the three years since then: five appearances, all five starts, one red card, four goals. Since then, he has appeared in all eight World Cup qualifiers, with La Tricolor now in fifth place, a play-off slot, as they attempt to qualify for the Qatar 2022 tournament.

His career is on the rise, and his pace of growth is continually increasing – yet this isn't a guy who has "gone from strength to strength." If you look back far enough into his boyhood, the reverse is virtually true: only strong talent-spotting and talent-nurturing may have enabled his talents to grow. In quantifiable terms, he has progressed from weakness to strength.

Progress was made, both on and off the field. It's easy to understand how a manager like Jurgen Klopp would be drawn to the personal dedication and growth on display. In 2019, a transfer to Porto rather than Zenit seems to be a well-thought-out option.

Diaz, who turned 25 earlier this month, is a rocket-fuel source for his side, a relentless figure on the ball who moves around the front line with great intelligence.

He scores a lot of headers, but it's typically because he makes a brilliant move across the defender rather than because he's powerful in the air, and his relatively good two-footedness makes a threatening position inside the box unexpected.

He's just as likely to cut inside onto his more favoured right foot for a textbook-style inside-forward attempt on goal as he is to find the byline and deliver a strong, low cut-back into the six-yard box.

It's not difficult to see where he fits in nicely in Liverpool. Diaz has done the off-the-ball side of the game while playing left in a four-man midfield, even for a dominating team, which he'll have to develop much more at Liverpool.

Sergio Conceicao, himself a former hard-working and gifted winger, can't be expected to tackle aggressively, but he can bother defenders. Diaz also makes the most of those opportunities to go deeper in defensive duties by becoming a more vital player after transitions, thanks to his lightning speed, which makes him the team's key counter-attacking threat.

Luis Diaz social media

Regarding

Luis Diaz social media

, it should be mentioned that he has an Instagram page (

) with 1.5 million followers. On the page, we can see various pictures of him with the fans and his family.

Luis Diaz body measurements

Speaking about

Luis Diaz body measurements

, it should be mentioned that the star is 178 cm and 65 kg.

Luis Diaz net worth and salary

Luis Diaz makes a living as a professional football player. Contracts, wages, bonuses, and endorsements are all sources of money for him. He joined Junior FC for an unknown price in July 2017.

He signed a five-year deal with FC Porto of Portugal in July 2019, with the club paying €7 million for 80 percent of his economic rights.

Luis Diaz net worth

is between $1 million and $5 million in 2021, with a salary of £936,000. His market value is estimated to be over €30 million.

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