Porto midfielder Mateus Uribe has admitted their slow start to the season is down to losing key players, with Liverpool’s Luis Diaz a particular loss.
Diaz joined Liverpool in a €47m deal from Porto in the January transfer window, bringing an end to a two and a half-year spell with the Portuguese giants.
He has established himself as a key player for them during that time, making 125 appearances in all competitions and scoring 41 goals, as well as registering 18 assists.
Diaz was very much the star of the show for Sergio Conceicao’s team, helping them to win the Primeira Liga and Taca de Portugal in 2019/20 and the Supertaca Candido de Oliveira in 2020.
Porto also won the title last season, something his performances in the first half of the campaign, before his move to Liverpool, undeniably contributed to.
His departure left a big hole that Porto are yet to fill, with them currently sitting third in the table and five points behind Benfica after seven games of the season.
That has led to some criticism and Uribe admits they are missing their former stars on a sporting and personal level.
“We didn’t have an easy start to the season, because we lost some very important players,” Gol Caracol report him saying.
“But we did very well. We want the team to have more support.
“We will always miss him (Diaz), as a person I miss him a lot and to find him here in the national team is important, because I value him more as a person than as a player.”
