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Luis Diaz and Arne Slot after Liverpool 2-0 Real Madrid in the Champions League.(Image: Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport via Getty Images)

Arne Slot has laughed off Barcelona interest in Luis Diaz, saying he understands why there would be admiration from the La Liga champions in the Liverpool winger.

But the Reds boss counteracted that talk by jokingly say he also admirers their wingers Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, two wide players who have been integral to Barca's success this term.

Diaz has scored 17 goals across all competitions under Slot this season and has often juggled positions in the team between operating on the left of the front three and through the middle as the team's centre forward.

Quotes from Deco, Barca's sporting director, earlier this week namechecked the Colombia international alongside Manchester United's Marcus Rashford as players who the Catalan recruitment team are fans of.

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Asked about it in Friday's press conference, Slot dismissed talk of Barcelona making a move for Diaz, sarcastically revealing his own admiration for Raphinha and Yamal.

"Did Deco say this about Diaz in the microphone or is that from hearsay?" Slot asked.

I don’t talk about players from other clubs.

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"I understand he is a big admirer of Lucho Diaz.

He is a great player and had a great season.

I admire Lamine Yamal and Raphinha!"

Slot added: "I think we have a lot to compete next season again but what I don’t know yet, and that's going to be the interesting one, is if we have this elite mentality, this serial winner mentality of showing up season after season after season.

"I get the answer on July 8 when we come back, seeing what shape the players are in.

When I talk about Mo Salah, it's not a coincidence that for so many years, he is on a certain level and last season, he was the one who was most fit when we arrived back after the break.

"That is the mentality you need to have to have to have a chance of becoming a serial winner.

The first day for me to judge if we can be serial winners is on July 8 when I see them back.

"I can only tell you what I did [to improve the players] and I am quite sure 99.9 or 100% Jurgen did the same things but maybe at a certain moment players get used to what you say so we try to inspire them and always try to let the team play better together and as a result the individual looks better.

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"There are many similarities between the two but it would be a surprise if every meeting was exactly the same.
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