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Luis Diaz, the Colombian winger who recently made a $87.2 million switch to Bayern Munich from Liverpool, has found an unexpected language ally in Joshua Kimmich. The 28 year old's move to Germany marked the end of his three-and-a-half year stint at Anfield.
Last season saw Diaz netting 17 goals across all competitions, contributing significantly to Arne Slot's Premier League title-winning campaign. However, contract negotiations fell through, leading Diaz to express his desire to leave Liverpool.
This paved the way for his move to Bayern Munich, making him only the third Colombian to don the jersey of the German champions. His shirt number was adopted by Reds record signing Florian Wirtz.
Language barriers posed a challenge for Diaz during his time in England, and the situation was no different in Germany. Initially, Portuguese international Joao Palhinha stepped in as Diaz's translator during training sessions, thanks to his fluency in Spanish.
As per Bild, Palhinha played a crucial role in helping Diaz settle in during his first day at Bayern.
However, with Palhinha's recent transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, Diaz was left without a Spanish-speaking teammate, reports the Liverpool Echo.
It appears that Kimmich's decision to learn Spanish nearly a decade ago, influenced by the significant number of Spanish and South American players at Bayern Munich, is paying off.
The German international seems to have taken on the role of helping Diaz settle into his new surroundings, with the two seen chatting and embracing in the changing room.
Kimmich, who joined Bayern from RB Leipzig in 2015, began learning Spanish in 2017 after his mother suggested he should improve his language skills.
In an interview with Bild, Kimmich, then aged 22, explained: "Why Spanish? My mother had the idea that I could learn another language. And since we have a lot of Spaniards on the team, I decided to do it."
This proved to be a smart move as he shared the dressing room with Thiago, Javi Martinez, James Rodriguez, Rafinha, Juan Bernat and Arturo Vidal.
During Diaz's final two seasons at Liverpool, he was part of a Spanish-speaking group that included Darwin Nunez and Alexis Mac Allister.
He also had the opportunity to converse in his native language with former teammates Adrian, James Milner and Stefan Bajcetic.
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