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The summer transfer window has brought with it the familiar whispers of Barcelona admiration for Luis Diaz but this year the speculation has reached fever pitch.

The Colombian winger continues to be heavily linked with a move to Camp Nou, with recent developments suggesting the interest is far from one-sided.

Barcelona’s pursuit of the Liverpool star has been anything but subtle, with sporting director Deco publicly praising Diaz in a high-profile interview with Catalan radio station RAC1 back in May.

Barcelona made a concrete approach for Diaz in late June, testing Liverpool’s resolve with a formal enquiry.

However, their advances were swiftly and categorically rejected by the Premier League champions.

According to sources close to the situation, Liverpool made it abundantly clear that they had “no intention of offloading the Colombia international”.

The Merseyside club’s stance was uncompromising – Diaz was simply not for sale at any price Barcelona were prepared to pay.

The rejection mirrored Liverpool’s response to a similar approach from Bayern Munich this week, with sporting director Max Eberl being told in no uncertain terms that the 28-year-old was not available for transfer.

The Liverpool winger recently followed Barcelona’s official Instagram account.

What makes this social media activity particularly significant is that Barcelona represents the only major club that Díaz follows that he has never actually played for.

His Instagram following list reads like his career timeline – Barranquilla FC, Junior, Porto, and Liverpool – making Barcelona the conspicuous outlier.

The transfer rumors reached new heights when Díaz was spotted with Barcelona midfielder Dani Olmo during a holiday in Ibiza.

The pair were photographed together and looking pretty happy to have caught up with one another.

Luis Diaz and Dani Olmo were spotted on holiday together.

Now, speaking to the media this week, Olmo has indeed confirmed he had a talk with Diaz while in Ibiza, but explained that he would be keeping any transfer talk to himself:

“If we talk about it, I’ll keep it to myself.

He’s a great person.”

He added that he wants all world-class players, like Diaz, to be at Barcelona:

“He’s a world-class player, and Barca should have the best players.

He’s proven it.”

“He’s a world-class striker and winger, there’s no doubt about that,” Olmo explained

He also mentioned Barcelona target Nico Williams, who was once upon a time linked to Liverpool as well, and reiterated the best have to play at Barcelona:

“Nico is another example.

We’ll talk during the holidays.

The best have to play at Barça.”

Despite the mounting speculation and Diaz’s apparent openness to a move, Liverpool have remained steadfast in their refusal to entertain offers.

The club’s position has been crystal clear – they want the Colombian in their plans for defending the Premier League title.

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