Tottenham willing to offer £37.6m up front for Luis Diaz, with an additional £8.4m in performance-related add-ons; however, Porto want £50.2m for the winger; Diaz has scored 16 goals and registered six assists in 28 games for the Portuguese side this season
Wednesday 26 January 2022 11:14, UK
Tottenham are in talks with Porto to sign Luis Diaz and are willing to pay up to €55m (£46m) for the winger.
Sources in Portugal suggest Spurs are prepared to offer €45m (£37.6m) up front for Diaz, with an additional €10m (£8.4m) in performance-related add-ons.
However, Porto are holding out for a fee of €60m (£50.2m) for the 25-year-old, who has 16 goals and six assists in 28 games for the Portuguese side this season.
Diaz joined Porto from Colombian side Club Junior in the summer of 2019, and has helped them to a Portuguese title and Portuguese Cup triumph in that time.
Diaz also shone at last summer's Copa America, where he helped Colombia to third place and finished as the tournament's joint top-scorer alongside Lionel Messi with four goals.
Antonio Conte has made it clear since joining Spurs in November he is keen to "rebuild" his squad and the north London side could be set for a busy final week of the January transfer window.
Tottenham are close to completing a deal for Wolves winger Adama Traore, who Conte is believed to see as being able to play either as a right wing-back or further forward.
Conte is also keen to remodel his midfield, and Sky in Italy are reporting Fiorentina's Sofyan Amrabat is among the players Tottenham are looking at before the deadline.
Spurs are also interested in AC Milan's Franck Kessie, who is out of contract with the Italian club at the end of the season.
Conte left Dele Alli, Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso out of his squad for Sunday's 2-0 loss at Chelsea, with the latter taking to social media to state he was "100 per cent in good physical condition".
Ndombele has been told he can leave Spurs this month, and Paris Saint-Germain are in talks about taking the France international on loan.
Kaveh Solhekol told The Transfer Show Tottenham are not the only English club to have shown interest in Luis Diaz...
"Spurs are in talks to sign Luis Diaz from Porto. Portuguese sources have told us Spurs are willing to pay €45m for him, plus €10m in add-ons. Porto I think want about €60m, so the two clubs are not that far apart.
"Diaz is a Colombian winger. He's got two-and-a-half years left on his contract. Liverpool were interested in signing him. Lots of clubs have been watching him.
"At Porto's game this weekend, there were scouts from Manchester United, Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund."
Sky Sports' Declan Olley:
Tottenham fans have been here before. Paulo Dybala and Bruno Fernandes in the summer of 2019, and even Joao Moutinho way back in the summer of 2012. They were the nearly men. The big-name signings the club were sensationally set to pull off, only for them to fall through.
The false dawns have become all too familiar for Spurs fans and they are unlikely to settle for another repeat with Porto's Luis Diaz, and more importantly, nor will head coach Conte.
The next two windows are critical in the Italian's future at Tottenham. Back him and Spurs have the chance to get themselves back in the Champions League and start competing for honours. But fail to match his ambition and Tottenham will not just drift further from the elite, they will risk losing Conte.
A successful move for Diaz would prove Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is serious in backing Conte. A £46m deal for the Colombian, or even the £50.2m that Porto are holding out for, would be the second-most expensive signing in Tottenham's history.
The move makes sense on the pitch too. Spurs' reliance on Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son's goals is clear - 56 per cent of the team's goals in the Premier League since the start of last season have been scored by the pair. Diaz could bring the extra firepower the squad needs, having scored 20 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions for club and country this season.
There is no doubt Diaz would be an exciting signing. But Spurs fans have been here before, and until he is wearing the shirt, they will continue to question the club's commitment in backing the best manager they could possibly have right now.
A quick glance at his headline stats in the Portuguese Primeira Liga this season suggests the 25-year-old provides serious goal threat - but also offers so much more.
The winger ranks top for goals, shots and touches in the opposition box and is among the elite for winning back possession in the final third, creating chances, attempting fast breaks, aerials, dribbling and passes in the attacking third.
The radar graphic below puts those strengths into perspective, with the Colombia international hitting the outer rim across a raft of attacking metrics - which represents the top five per cent of wingers in Europe's top leagues.
The maps below narrow down his goal threat to Champions League appearances over the past two seasons and reveal Diaz is most potent from his favoured left channel, frequently carving chances for team-mates with diagonals into the box.
Besides scoring goals, his most striking attribute is participation in overall play, with above-average numbers for passes in the final third - but the graphic below suggests Diaz also frequently tracks back to support the team.
When visualising his goal and passing averages, Diaz emerges among an elite crop of players in Europe's top leagues, with returns on par with Karim Benzema and Mohamed Salah.
His heat map below emphasises his work-rate with concentrations of activity in his defensive half, while his ability to reclaim possession high up the pitch would certainly suit a high-press style.
Who will be on the move in January?
The January transfer window opens on Saturday January 1, 2022 and closes at 11pm on Monday January 31.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports' digital platforms. You can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News.
Follow every Tottenham game in the Premier League this season with our live blogs on the Sky Sports website and app, and watch match highlights for free shortly after full-time.
Want the Tottenham latest? Bookmark our Tottenham news page, check out Tottenham's fixtures and Tottenham's latest results, watch Tottenham goals and video, keep track of the Premier League table and see which Tottenham games are coming up live on Sky Sports.
Get all this and more - including notifications sent straight to your phone - by downloading the Sky Sports Scores app and setting Tottenham as your favourite team.
Hear the best Premier League reaction and expert analysis with the Essential Football and Gary Neville podcasts, keep up-to-date with our dedicated Transfer Centre, follow the Sky Sports social accounts on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and find out how to get Sky Sports.
