Former Everton coach Rafa Benitez vetoed the chance to bring Luis Diaz to Goodison Park before the Colombia international joined Premier League rivals Liverpool in a £37 million deal only a few months later.
After that news broke on Friday lunchtime, this tell-all interview from Marcel Brands could hardly have emerged at a worse time for an Everton fanbase still reeling from the confirmation a ten-point deduction.
Brands, the club’s former director of football, was often a lightning rod for the fans’ frustration during his time at Merseyside. But it’s fair to say the Dutchman found himself operating under very difficult circumstances.
Everton could have had Liverpool’s Luis Diaz
For instance, Brands never really saw eye for eye with Rafa Benitez, Voetbal International reporting that the Spaniard often undermined the former PSV chief by attempting to conduct transfer business directly with Farhad Moshiri.
As a result of the confusion behind the scenes, Everton missed out on the chance to sign a player who would later go on to become one of the best forwards in the country on the other side of Stanley Park.
“I wanted to install my philosophy and structure that would allow Everton to progress,” Brands recalls, speaking to the Algemeen Dagblad. “But the decisions from above did not allow it.
“In the summer of 2021, we were looking to bring Luis Diaz from Porto. I was working hard to get James Rodriguez to go to Porto as part of the deal that would bring Diaz to the club.
“However, Rafa Benitez ruled against it because he was not sure about the player.”
Blame Benitez
Benitez, a former Liverpool coach, would see Diaz join his old employers the following January for a cool £37 million. A fee the Colombia international has repaid with series of scintillating performances, and how Everton could do with a forward of his considerable talents these days.
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