LIVERPOOL star Luis Diaz almost died as a child due to illness which caused him to lose a dangerous amount of weight, his father has revealed.
Diaz is Colombia’s biggest star and is set to contest the Champions League final against Real Madrid on May 28.
But the journey to the top of football wasn’t easy for the 25-year-old.
Diaz’s father, Luis Manuel, has revealed the Liverpool ace suffered from an illness which caused him to lose a dangerous amount of weight.
The tricky winger went from “chubby” to extremely skinny which could’ve cost him his life.
Father Manuel told Noticias RCN chain in Colombia: “When he was little, two or three-years-old, he was chubby, he was very chubby.
“He had a disease process, it gave him discomfort and he lost weight in that process.
“We used to say that he was going to die, because as the old men used to say when they kept an eye on him: ‘the bald guy got sick, he got sick’.”
Manuel also revealed that it was someone from his hometown of Barrancas which helped Diaz recover.
Manuel continued: “A man from up here was the one who helped me with it and recovered it for me.”
Diaz was born and raised in the heartland of Colombia’s largest indigenous community.
As a kid, Diaz was so skinny that his nickname was Fideo – “Noodle”.
Coach John Diaz (no relation) remembers a “clumsy, malnourished” teenager turning up to a trial for a youth team made up of players from Colombia’s indigenous communities.
But the youngster’s skill impressed scouts, including Colombia legend Carlos Valderrama.
After scoring seven goals at the 2015 Copa Sudamericana de Pueblos Indigenas, Diaz’s career began to take off.
Atletico Junior sent him on loan to Barranquilla, where he was put on a special diet to gain 10kg.
Diaz crossed the Atlantic to join Porto in 2019, before moving to Liverpool in January.
SOURCE: thesun.co.uk
