For a month now, Luis Díaz has been living an eternal dream every day: training with world figures, making himself understood in the universal language of football, earning a place as a starter on such a payroll… each thing is better than the last! And this is just beginning.
But it was precisely about those beginnings that a former Colombia team spoke who saw him from Barranquilla FC, who had him as a sparring partner and who now even speaks with Klopp directly about this happy adventure.
“I met him in Barranquilla when we were in the process of the South American Qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. On certain occasions, together with his club, he practiced with the Colombian National Team, when Professor Pékerman was there, and we saw his quality. The comments that there was, internally, it was that he made a difference and that, possibly, he was going to be a high-level professional player,” he said in a chat with Gol Caracol.
“Luis Díaz has very good things, like the joy with which he plays, the technique, speed, in short. He can improve in several things thanks to Kloop, but the most important thing is that he stays at that level, in football demanding like the Englishman. For any player, having that regularity for two or three seasons is essential and that’s where he will improve”, added the former player, who has also graduated as a coach.
Soto and Klopp met at Mainz 05 between 2006 and 2008 and, according to the former player, they have maintained contact since that time that has never been broken, not even now that the German is one of the most sought-after players in the world: “Klopp told me that he is happy for Luis because he is a great boy, so that gives a lot to say. Every time Liverpool plays I try to be aware of ‘Lucho’, more so because it is directed by a coach who was essential for me”, said Soto.
That Klopp and Liverpool went for Díaz in the winter market, when big transfers do not usually happen, was not fortuitous for Soto but, knowing the coach, it took a long, long time: “German coaches do not hire someone for only six months or a good season, but because they have followed him for two or three seasons. They look at regularity and performance. So I think that the case of Luis Díaz was no exception and it had to be a wish or a request of Klopp”.
What is to come without a doubt produces a great illusion: “Seeing him now where he is, with his great past in Junior de Barranquilla, his excellent performances in Porto and reaching this giant of England, full of pride”, Soto concluded.
