Luis Diaz visits hometown in Colombia

Luis Diaz has returned to his hometown for first time since becoming Liverpool hero

Diaz enjoyed a stellar start to his Liverpool career, winning the FA Cup and EFL Cup, reaching the Champions League final and finishing second in the Premier League.

The Liverpool forward also helped Colombia reach the semi-finals of the Copa America last summer , sharing the Golden Boot with Lionel Messi  and earned a move to Liverpool thanks to his impressive form at Porto.

A video of Diaz walking around his hometown of Barrancas and greeting locals has gone viral on social media. The town has a population of just under 40,000 people, is located in the north of Colombia and is said to be one of the country's poorer areas.

Diaz grew up playing on sand pitches in Barrancas before representing Barranquilla and Atletico Junior in Colombia's top two divisions. Both teams are located in the city of Barranquilla, which is also based in the north of the country.

"For us in the Barranquilla Futbol Club is a cause of great pride to see Luis Diaz in Liverpool and the success he is having at the beginning and to know that he will succeed," Barranquilla president Ernesto Rafael Herrera told Mirror Football in February.

"It is a motivation to keep working in the formation of young Colombian football players and for other youths, he is an example to follow, so they can achieve their dreams."

Diaz left Colombia in July 2019 to start his career in Europe. He enjoyed two good seasons at Porto before the 2021-22 campaign, scoring a combined total of 25 goals and winning the Portuguese league title, Portuguese Cup and Portuguese Super Cup.

Diaz is due to receive another two winners' medals after Porto won the Portuguese league title and Portuguese Cup this season. He played a role in both of those triumphs.