Liverpool manager Arne Slot said Luis Diaz was left out of the friendly defeat against AC Milan because of speculation surrounding a move for the Colombia forward.
The Premier League champions rejected an opening bid of £58m from Bayern Munich earlier this month for Diaz, whose contract expires in the summer of 2027.
While Slot said Darwin Nunez missed the game against Milan in Hong Kong with an injury, he confirmed Diaz was omitted “due to speculation on his future”.
“There are a lot of rumours around Luis lately and I cannot go into that,” said Slot.
“He’s training really well but we have decided for now not to play him.”
Liverpool have signed forwards Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike already this summer and are in pursuit of Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak.
Diaz arrived at Anfield from Porto in a deal worth an initial £37m in January 2022 and he was an integral part of the squad that won the 2024-25 Premier League.
Liverpool’s record signing Wirtz made his first start for his new club against Milan at a sold-out Kai Tak Stadium.
Liverpool legend Sir Kenny Dalglish laid a wreath of flowers before kick-off and the players had ‘Diogo J 20’ on their shirts in tribute to their former team-mate Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident as he and his brother Andre Silva drove through the Spanish province of Zamora earlier this month.
The Premier League champions dominated the opening 10 minutes but it was the Italian side who opened the scoring when a counter-attack ended with Rafael Leao smashing past Alisson Becker.
Dominik Szoboszlai equalised with a fine curling strike into the top corner of Mike Maignan’s goal from the edge of the box.
England midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek restored Milan’s lead early in the second half as the Reds were again caught short at the back and Noah Okafor made it 3-1 with a brilliant finish beyond Liverpool’s new Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Cody Gakpo pulled one back in added time with a header from Ibrahima Konate’s pinpoint ball into the box but an awful mix-up between Mamardashvili and Kostas Tsimikas allowed Okafor to net his second.
Liverpool now travel to Japan and will play Yokohama F. Marinos on Wednesday.
Wirtz comfortable in unusual role
Florian Wirtz was named the 2023-24 Bundesliga player of the season
Wirtz, a £116m signing from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, filled a unfamiliar false nine role against Milan with Nunez and Diaz missing and new signing Ekitike not ready to play.
The Germany playmaker had exciting 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha on his left and Mohamed Salah in his usual right wing position.
Slot is expected to use Wirtz either as an attacking midfielder behind the striker or a narrow left-sided forward, but in Hong Kong he showed he was capable of linking the forward line from an advanced central role.
His speed of thought and first touch kept him a step ahead of his opponents and opened up space for him to drive forward with the ball.
There was disappointment when he did not re-emerge for the second half, but fans got a look at Liverpool’s other new signings – right-back Jeremie Frimpong and left-back Milos Kerkez – as they were introduced at half-time.
