Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version or go back to LFC Live.net

Luis Díaz of Liverpool during a training session at AXA Training Centre(Image: Photo by Nikki Dyer - LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

While Liverpool might have sold Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid this summer, it’s has actually become rather rare for the Reds to deal directly with any of their fellow European elite clubs.

The Reds banked £10m for releasing the Reds vice-captain from the final month of his contract so he could represent the La Liga giants in the FIFA Club World Cup, as opposed to him leaving on an already-agreed free transfer to the Bernabeu.

But since selling Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in a club-record £142m deal in January 2018, such deals have become few and far between as Liverpool climbed their way up the food-chain to re-establish themselves back at the continent’s top table.

Going on to win two Premier League titles, the Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup, the FA Cup, two League Cups, the European Super Cup and the Community Shield, they have become the pinnacle for so many players.

The Reds tend to recruit from lower down the food-chain, with players reaching new heights and winning major honours during their peak years before then dropping back down the ladder when their Anfield careers come to an end.

Now genuine contenders for Premier League and Champions League glory year after year, it has become rare to see sideways steps to and from Anfield in the transfer market, with only a handful of such dealings over the past seven years.

Emre Can, Gini Wijnaldum and Divock Origi joined Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan respectively, but all three were free agents after their Reds contracts expired.

Meanwhile, Liverpool have signed Federico Chiesa and Arthur Melo from Juventus in cut-price deals.

But both had been bombed out by the Italian giants as the Reds turned to them for additional depth with minimal success.

Beyond those two deals, you have to go back to 2013 and 2014 for the last time Liverpool signed players from an Italian giant - Coutinho from Inter Milan and Mario Balotelli from AC Milan.

Meanwhile, the loan signing of Nuri Sahin in August is the only time the Reds have gone shopping at the Spanish giants since signing Fernando Morientes in January 2005.

While Liverpool have not lost a player to Barcelona since Coutinho’s exit, you have to go all the way back to the arrival of Luis Garcia in 2004 for the last time the Reds snapped up a senior player from Camp Nou.

As for Liverpool’s fellow English giants, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s arrival from Arsenal in 2017 remains the last time they signed a domestic rival’s player.

Meanwhile, Raheem Sterling’s controversial exit to Man City in 2015 remains the last such exit.

And it is well-documented that no player has moved directly between the Reds and bitter-rivals Manchester United since Phil Chisnall in 1964.

But there is one exception, one fellow European giant Liverpool have actually dealt with pretty regularly, as far as such dealings go at least, in recent years - Bayern Munich.

Since the Reds won the Premier League title in 2020, the two clubs have traded three players.

Liverpool snapped up Thiago Alcantara a year before the end of his contract in Munich in 2020 in a £25m deal when the Spaniard decided to pursue pastures new, with the Bavarians then returning the favour to bring in Sadio Mane in similar circumstances for an initial £27.5m fee in 2022.

Meanwhile, with Ryan Gravenberch’s time in Munich not working out, the Reds renewed their interest in the Dutchman to bring him in for £40m in 2023.

Given the midfielder’s fortunes at Anfield last season, emerging as a star player to help Arne Slot’s side win the Premier League title, Bayern bosses could be forgiven for sanctioning his hasty departure.

But for Thiago and Mane, both clubs were perhaps left unsatisfied with how things worked out.

The Spaniard showed his quality at Anfield when fit, but was limited to just 98 appearances during an injury-plagued four-year stint as he won only the FA Cup in 2022 - having been injured in the warm-up ahead of the League Cup final.

A five-minute cameo appearance at Arsenal in February 2024 would remain his only outing during his final 18 months at the club, with Thiago announcing his retirement following the end of his contract.

But he at least fared better at Anfield than Mane managed in Bavaria.

The Senegalese started well enough in Munich, only to miss the World Cup after suffering an injury in November.

Returning to action in February after three months on the sidelines, he then swiftly fell out of favour under new manager Thomas Tuchel.

Suspended and fined after allegedly punching team-mate Leroy Sane in the dressing room, he was then deemed surplus to requirements at the end of the season.

The forward scored 12 goals from 38 appearances and won the Bundesliga with the club, but he was sold to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr in the summer of 2023.

Yet Mane’s plight has not put off Bayern from coming calling at Liverpool once again, with the German outfit now pursuing the Senegelase’s replacement at Anfield, Luis Diaz.

Having already knocked back approaches from both Barcelona and Bayern earlier this summer, the Reds rejected a £58.6m bid from the Bavarians earlier this week.

Despite Liverpool’s insistence that the forward is not available for transfer, Diaz’s long-term future at Anfield remains in doubt.

The 28-year-old has entered the last two years of his current deal and talks have thus far not progressed over a new contract.

And Bayern are expected to return with an improved bid despite Liverpool’s insistence that Diaz remains an important player under Slot.

They want him to stay put for the remainder of his contract - a fact they have communicated clearly to all interested parties.

On top of that, the Reds are also having to cope with the death of Diogo Jota, who was killed along with his brother Andre Silva in a car crash earlier this month.

Only time will tell if Bayern will test Liverpool’s Diaz resolve once again this summer, and if the Reds are willing to sanction multiple attacking departures.

The Colombian is attracting interest from Saudi Arabia too, which could hike up any asking-price but given the ongoing links with Munich and Barcelona, it would appear he favours a switch to another top European side.

Article continues below

And with the Bavarians a rare exception when it comes to Liverpool dealing with rival elite clubs in recent years, it perhaps should not be a surprise if they do emerge as the side to lure the Colombian away.


For more news relating to Manchester United, visit our sister site MUFC Live.