Luis Diaz: Looking at the FC Porto forward that is linked with a move to the Premier League

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Luis Diaz has been linked with Premier League clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in the January transfer window.

Here is what you need to know about the forward and how he compares to his potential counterparts.

Facts and Attributes

The 25-year-old currently plays his football in Portugal for FC Porto and has been there since the 2019/20 season after moving over from his home country Colombia.

Diaz usually operates on the left side of the attack, using his pace and effective dribbling to terrorise defenders. He is fairly lean, having previously suffered from malnutrition, but uses this to his advantage when taking on his opposition.

So far this season, Diaz has scored 14 goals and assisted his teammates four times in 18 league appearances. He has also netted two goals in the Champions League, both of them coming in fixtures against AC Milan, which was enough to secure a Europa League spot in one of the toughest groups in the competition.

Copa America

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Before his dazzling display this season, Diaz had a special campaign for Colombia in last summer’s Copa America.

After a slow start, including a red card in their second game, Diaz kicked into gear after he scored an audacious bicycle kick against finalists Brazil.

In their semi-final against Argentina, the winger was pivotal in taking the game to penalties. He scored the equaliser in the game and proved too much for right-back, Nahuel Molina, to deal with as he was subsequently substituted at half-time.

His brace in the third-place play-off against Peru, which included a 94th-minute winner, helped Colombia to their joint-best finish in the competition since 2001. He also finished joint top-scorer in the tournament alongside Lionel Messi.

Comparison to Premier League wingers

Diaz has drawn a lot of comparisons to Premier League wingers like Heung-Min Son, Mohamed Salah, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka.

The Columbian forward averages more goals per 90 than the aforementioned players but Salah beats Diaz when total goal contributions are involved. Liverpool’s number 11 is also the only player to average more shots per 90 than the FC Porto forward but both Sterling (45.7%) and Son (43.2%) hit the target more often than Diaz (41.9%).

When it comes to dribbling, Diaz does not disappoint. He has a higher percentage of successful dribbles than his counterparts and has dribbled past more players too.

Only Sterling (84.7%) has a higher pass completion rate than Diaz (82%) when considering all distances. Diaz has completed the most long ball passes out of all the players but this is with a smaller sample size. He also creates more key passes (2.2) per game than Salah (1.85) and Son (1.88), who come closest to him.

It has been reported that Tottenham have offered £50 million for the winger but Porto remain persistent that any interested clubs should pay the £67 million release clause. Both Manchester clubs have also been linked with Diaz along with Liverpool.

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