- Luis Diaz has returned to the Liverpool squad for Sunday’s game vs Luton Town
- Diaz’ mother was freed last weekend but his father remains a hostage
- Big debates on Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal on It’s All Kicking Off podcast
Luis Diaz has returned to the Liverpool squad for the first time since his parents were kindnapped in Colombia.
Diaz has been named on the bench for the clash at Kenilworth Road after missing matches against Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth.
The Colombian international returned to training on Merseyside earlier this week after it was reported that both his mother and father had been kidnapped last weekend.
Government officials confirmed that they were taken by a left-wing guerilla group considered terrorists by the US and European Union.
Diaz’ mother was freed on the same night that the pair were snatched off the streets of their hometown in La Guajira region in Colombia by four armed men on motorcycles, but the search for his father continues.
Luis Diaz has returned to the Liverpool squad for the first time since his parents were kidnapped in Colombia
The Liverpool star’s mother (above in 2019, left centre) has been rescued after the pair were snatched off the streets of Colombia last week, but his father’s whereabouts are still unknown
Diaz’s father Luis Manuel (above) and mother Cilenis Marulanda were kidnapped in Colombia last week and the 26-year-old footballer has since remained in England for ‘security reasons’
A man hunt for him has been ongoing since last week, and it has been suggested that the ELN organization did not realise who Diaz Snr was when they kidnapped him.
They confirmed in a statement on Friday that they would be releasing him.
It read: ‘The Northern War Front has commands with economic missions and one of them carries out a privation of freedom, which, after being reported and verified that it is the priest of Lucho Diaz, is guided by his release because he is a family member of the great sportsman that we all love as Colombians.
‘From that moment on, the release process begins and we want to avoid any incident. Firm in the search for the paths of peace, with the necessary transformations that the country needs.’
The Colombian Government say Luis Manuel Diaz was kidnapped by a terrorist group
Jurgen Klopp said on Friday that it was up to Diaz whether or not he wanted to return to the squad for the fixture against Luton.
He said: ‘We must wait. If he feels right, he will be here and train with us. The session he had with us you can see when he is with the boys he is fine, he is OK.
‘But you could see he didn’t sleep a lot. We have to see how he is and we go from there. The news from Colombia gives us a little bit of hope. We are waiting for the really good news but that’s it pretty much.
‘I cannot say what we will do because we just wait where we can pick up the boy from and go from there. But it’s all about him, if he makes himself available or not, and I will not force anything.’
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