Revealed: TWO FLOPS helped seal remarkable Liverpool Luis Diaz deal

Under new Liverpool boss Arne Slot's reign, Luis Diaz is in a fine vein of form.

Scoring five goals and making one assist in his eight Premier League starts this season, the Colombian is turning heads after delivering mixed returns for the club in his maiden full campaign.

But after receiving a new lease of life under the Dutchman, Diaz is playing with confidence for club and country and is finally beginning to show fans what the club saw in him when he was recruited in 2022.

Read more: Saudi Arabia DETERMINED to strike HUGE FSG Liverpool deal

From Porto to Merseyside

Joining the Reds in January 2022, as yet another clear example of Liverpool's great winter transfers, the Colombian was electric down the left flank, breaking full-backs' ankles with his quick and incise turns as he dribbled down the pitch.

However, despite impressing early on, Diaz noticeably struggled more in his second season at the club, occasionally managing to pull off the finishes he ambitiously attempted, but often missing any clinical end product - as most of Liverpool's attackers did towards the end of an emotionally draining campaign.

But now, revitalised and with a new perspective in the changing room, Liverpool's £34million deal, which seemed reasonable at the time, is now starting to pay off with a maturity in his game beginning to shine through.

Behind Liverpool's Diaz deal

As revealed by Semana ahead of the release of his new book Azul ate ao fim, Porto's former director Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, said: "Two days before the deadline set by UEFA, we were faced with a dilemma: either we would sell a player or we would not play in European competitions.

"This second solution, for me, was unacceptable. I had already warned my colleagues that if this happened, I would resign."

Debts the club had to incur were the result of Sergio Conceicao (Porto manager at the time) pressuring the club to purchase two players - Jose [Ze] Luis and [Shoya] Nakajima."

As a result, Porto had to reassess their situation and sell one of their players. Luis Diaz ended up being the asset of choice and Liverpool were the suitors who happily helped Porto out of a sticky situation of their own doing.

Da Costa added: "Then we had to negotiate a player and we went to the market. We received offers for Vitinha, Fábio Vieira and [Mehdi] Taremi, which I found regrettable because they were really taking advantage of our situation.

"There was still interest from some clubs in Luis Diaz (Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle, Barcelona) [and] the one that offered us the best conditions was Liverpool."

Liverpool's shrewd sporting directors

Despite an up-and-down experience at Liverpool so far, Diaz has managed to fit right into the squad.

The club has often entered the transfer market for talented South Americans, with the arrivals of Darwin Nunez and Alexis Mac Allister quickly following suit in the years after.

While the team often struggles when players are returning from the international break, the quality from many of the Reds' recent transfers has always been clear, even if a little more care has to be taken surrounding their fitness.

And even though Liverpool's latest transfer windows have been considered weak, with a more cautious approach taken, it is clear that the club are more than happy to be ruthless when an opportunity arises.

Read more: Liverpool ready to hand debuts to four players against Leipzig