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Today’s top stories:
Which clubs were in the race for Luis Diaz before he joined Liverpool?
Plus more from Man Utd, Man City and Real Madrid
Arsenal
As we get closer to January it’s inevitable that we’ll get even more transfer gossip stories than usual, and one surprising one I’ve seen involved Arsenal youngster Charlie Patino being a target for Barcelona.
Honestly I’ve no news on Patino and Barca, nothing concrete as of now. I’m sure Arsenal are really happy with his progress and he’s really appreciated by all the people into the club.
Arsenal are still working on Gabriel Martinelli’s new contract. Talks are ongoing as a new deal for the Brazilian forward is considered one of their main priorities. Negotiations will continue as current deal includes an option to extend until June 2026.
Santi Cazorla on returning to Arsenal in the future: “Of course I would like to come back. I have to wait if the club thinks about me, if I can help in something – as a coach or a sporting director.”
Barcelona
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has spoken publicly about trying to sign Luis Diaz before he went to Liverpool, saying: “We wanted to sign Luis Diaz, we were really interested in signing him and we even had talks with his agent. The truth is that we had just arrived at the club and we had financial problems. And so... Liverpool signed him.”
My understanding is that Barcelona had conversations with the player’s agents but it was never got to an advanced stage between the clubs as Porto wanted a €60m package for him.
There was also interest from others - Tottenham and West Ham were also pushing - but in the end Klopp and Liverpool’s plans made the difference.
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