Johnny Nic gushes over the Liverpool new boy who has gone from humble beginnings to tearing top defences to shreds in a Reds attack he could feature in for a decade…
Who’s this then?
Luis Fernando Díaz Marulanda is a 5ft 10in 25-year-old winger, currently in the employ of Liverpool FC. Born in Barrancas, Colombia, he is a Wayúu, which Wikipedia defines as ‘an Amerindian ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula in the northernmost part of Colombia and northwest Venezuela’.
He was included in the 2015 Copa Americana de Pueblos Indígenas because of his Wayúu heritage and impressed greatly, aged just 18. Atletico Junior signed him up and sent him to Barranquilla, their feeder or ‘farm’ club. At the time, he was undernourished, and underweight, poor lad, as many of Wayuu are, apparently. He was given a specific diet to help him put on one and half stone in weight. There’s a 2,000 calorie parmo they sell in Middlesbrough that can help with that.
Making his senior debut in April 2016 he soon took a place in Junior’s first-team in 2017, spent two and half seasons playing 108 games, scoring 20 goals. His form as a speedy player who could score goals as well as assist, brought him to Porto’s attention who turned up in Colombia with seven million euros in a big hat and took Luis back to Portugal with them.
Zenit were also interested in signing him but with a choice between Russia and Portugal, no-one in their right mind would choose Russia, would they? It was a successful move from the get-go winning Primeira Liga 2019–20 and Taça de Portugal. An incredibly fit player who hasn’t suffered any major injuries in two and half seasons at Porto he made 125 appearances and scored 41 times. He scored 26 times in the league and made an impressive 15 assists too.
In 2021 he also shared the Copa América Golden Boot with Lionel Messi as his international career really took off.
So, here was a tireless, pacey left-sided player who doesn’t get injured,…
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