'He is fine': International manager confirms £50m Liverpool player is not injured and is available
22/03/2024 16:00
Liverpool continue to sweat on the players who have travelled to meet up with the national teams this week.
Still missing a number of players through injury, the Reds are already a little light on the ground as it is. The news that Darwin Nunez had not travelled with Uruguay was a relief at least, but Liverpool still have a clutch of players away from the club right now.
One of those had some good news on Friday, with Japan’s game against North Korea on Tuesday being rescheduled. The change of date means Wataru Endo can hopefully get some rest back in Liverpool.
Meawhile, there was more good news today, as Colombia manager Nester Lorenzo provided an update on the fitness of Luis Diaz.
What’s going on with Luis Diaz
Following an exhausting 114-minute run-out for Liverpool at Old Trafford last weekend, there had been fears that Diaz had been pushed too far.
The 27-year-old is like a Duracell bunny on the best of days, but even he looked shattered by the time he came off for Bobby Clark.
In the days immediately after the game, reports suggested that Diaz had not trained upon meeting up with Colombia at the start of the week. As a result, worry grew that the Reds were now dealing with one more injury problem.
Those fears were allayed on Thursday though, with the £50m man pictured out in training with his countrymen.
And now, in quotes from Colombian outlet El Heraldo, Los Cafeteros manager Nestero Lorenzo has confirmed that Diaz is ‘fine.’
“Luis is fine,” Lorenzo says. “We’ve weighed down on him because he played in extra time, he’s one of the players who plays the most. They ask me to take care of it, we’re going to do it, but it’s going to be dosed in a way that it’s okay.”
When are Colombia playing
Liverpool supporters won’t have to wait long to see whether Diaz is fit enough to play yet. Colombia are in England to take on Spain at the London Stadium this evening.
They then play Romania on Tuesday, which would feel a more likely game for Lucho to be involved in.
From Liverpool’s point of view, they’d surely prefer if Lorenzo kept his star man back for this double-header. Being friendlies, there’s little need to risk him.
But knowing Diaz, he’ll be itching to get out and show what he can do on relatively home turf. Hopefully if he does play the correct precautions have been taken.
