Arne Slot confirmed that Luis Diaz was left out of Liverpool’s defeat to AC Milan due to speculation around his future.
Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo got on the scoresheet in their 4-2 loss in a pre-season friendly in Hong Kong.
Diaz, who scored 13 goals in the Premier League last season along with five assists, has been heavily linked with a move to Bayern Munich, who have reportedly already seen a bid rejected in recent weeks.
The Reds have already added Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike to their frontline this summer, while they are reportedly still interested in signing Alexander Isak from Newcastle United.
Liverpool also invested in a new full-back pairing after bringing in Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez.
Slot revealed Diaz was left out due to the transfer speculation before speaking on their own business this summer.
Following the Milan defeat, Slot said: “There’s a lot of rumours around him [Diaz] lately, and I cannot go into that. He’s training really well with us, but we have decided, for now, not to play him yet.
Ibou Cody pic.twitter.com/wHVwMq6a5Q
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 26, 2025
“Now we won the league, but you can see everywhere around us – in the Premier League, but also we play in Europe, so we want to achieve things there as well – that all of these teams try to strengthen their squads.
“So, if you do the same as we did last year, we will probably not be able to win it again. So, we have to improve – the players that are still here, and we’ve tried to bring new energy in, but also ‘weapons’, as you called it.
“Now, let’s wait how Hugo [Ekitike] is going to do. Really pleased what we did until now, but already really pleased we kept the players that had an extended contract last season.”
Massimiliano Allegri, meanwhile, was pleased with the whole team’s effort in their win, but also with Rafael Leao in particular.
The Portuguese forward started in the striker role again, like he did against Arsenal, and scored the opening goal in their win.
Clinical on the counter pic.twitter.com/9SUja8oMDB
— AC Milan (@acmilan) July 26, 2025
Noah Okafor also found the net twice, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek added to the scoreline as Milan exploited Liverpool with repeated counter-attacks.
Allegri said: “Leao is a great player, he has extraordinary qualities, and is only getting stronger. I think he is of the right age to mature and have an important season.
“Leao did very well as a centre-forward, just as the whole team is working well this summer.
“The best and most important thing I am happy to see is that in these first 20 days of work, the team has a positive attitude.
“They really raised the level of being able to suffer, and this means that when we have the ball, we try to play it, but when we don’t, then everyone defends together as a team very well.”