Chelsea held talks with Liverpool Montevideo over potentially signing Fabricio Diaz before his move to Qatari side Al-Gharafa.
That is according to 90min.
The outlet claims that the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Brentford all had discussions with Liverpool Montevideo about Fabricio Diaz.
The midfielder has now joined Al-Gharafa, but 90min’s report says sources expect him to move again before the 2026 World Cup.
Diaz will be hoping to play in the tournament with Uruguay after recently captaining the country’s U20 side to the FIFA U20 World Cup.
Diaz’s move to Qatar a surprise
Diaz joining Al-Gharafa did come as a shock given his age and talent. The 20-year-old obviously has the ability to play in a much stronger division than the Qatar Stars League, and it seems some of Europe’s top clubs, such as Chelsea, feel the same.
The former Liverpool Montevideo star did not need to be at the top of the Blues’ shopping list, however.
They already have young options for the middle of the park, at and away from the club. For example, Chelsea bought Moises Caicedo in the last transfer window and Andrey Santos the one before that, midfielders who are around the same age as Diaz.
The above shows, though, that Diaz is the profile of player wanted at Stamford Bridge, so it is not a surprise to hear that Chelsea considered him.
For whatever reason, it appears that they did not go any further than holding talks with Liverpool Montevideo, who sold the Uruguayan youngster to Al-Gharafa in the end.