Klopp Won’t Force Luis Diaz To Play For Liverpool Against Luton Town

Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp said his embattled winger, Luis Diaz, would have the freedom to choose to play or not this weekend.

Recall that the father of Luis Diaz, Luis Manuel Diaz, and his spouse were kidnapped on Saturday at gunpoint. Diaz’s mother was found alive in Barrancas, but his father is still missing.

Hence, for exactly a week now, the Colombia international has been in distress and didn’t play in Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest, and also missed the EFL Cup third round 2-1 win over Bournemouth on Wednesday.

However, coach Klopp revealed on Wednesday that Diaz, 26, has resumed training as the Reds prepare to play Luton on Sunday, November 5.

The terrorist organization that kidnapped Luis Diaz’s father promised to free him “as soon as possible” in Colombia; thus, it is likely that the player’s father will be released in the next few hours.

“We will wait to see how he [Luis Diaz] is and go from there,” Jurgen Klopp said today, November 3, ahead of their clash against Luton on Sunday.

“We will not force the situation – it’s out of our hands.

“If he feels right, he will train with us. When he’s with the boys he’s fine but you can tell he hasn’t slept a lot.

“He was in training two days ago and yesterday did a session.”

Left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels are said to have kidnapped Diaz’s father, according to the Colombian government.

The ELN is the primary guerrilla group still active in Colombia. With an estimated 2,500 members, it has been at odds with the government since 1964.

Following the abduction of Luis Diaz’s parents in Barrancas, the kidnappers abandoned Diaz’s mother, Cilenis Marulanda, in a car in the northern Colombian province of La Guajira.

Colombian authorities have published a reward of about £40,000 for information leading to the location of Diaz’s father. In addition, over 120 police officers and soldiers have been searching the country’s north.