Liverpool players, including Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz, have been making the most of their winter break, taking trips to watch their old teams play.
Once you arrive at Liverpool, the club becomes your life; very few players end their career without feeling Liverpool is ‘their club’.
As is the nature of modern football, though, not many of Liverpool’s players supported the Reds as children and came through the academy.
On their journeys to Anfield, players make connections and friends along the way, that they occasionally like to revisit.
HOLA, DARWIN: Núñez presente en un palco siguiendo Almería vs. Girona.
? Mirá #LaLiga por #ESPNenStarPlus pic.twitter.com/3FHwK0JLSw
— SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) January 14, 2024
For example, Nunez, who arrived from Benfica in 2022, spent a season at Almeria before moving to Portuguese giants, and was back in Spain, watching his former team draw 0-0 with league leaders Girona.
It was an impressive result for LaLiga’s bottom-placed side, who signed Nunez from Uruguayan outfit Penarol in 2019.
Despite the dull scoreline, Nunez still seemed to be enjoying himself. As did Diaz, who was pictured with his parents at Porto’s Estadio de Dragao.
Diaz actually played against Liverpool while at Porto in 2021. He lost both matches, but made enough of an impression for Jurgen Klopp to sign him the following January.
On this occasion, he watched Porto win, as they beat Braga 2-0 in the Primeira Liga.
? Luis Díaz junto a su padre en el estadio Do Dragão viendo jugar al Porto. Volvió a casa el “Valecita”. @LuisFDiaz19 ??????? pic.twitter.com/zqwfPJBBN3
— Michael Rincón (@MykeRincon) January 15, 2024
Adrian was also on the Iberian Peninsula. As a boy in Sevilla, he grew up supporting Real Betis before rising through their youth system to play 32 times for the first team.
He is now passing down his love for the club to his children.
On Instagram, he shared a photo of his him and his children at the Benito Villamarin, saying “de padres a hijos” which loosely translates as “from father to sons.”
Thankfully, he got to see a 1-0 win over Granada as Betis stayed in seventh place, 10 points behind fourth-placed Barcelona.
Conor Bradley was also overseas as he returned home to County Tyrone.
While there, he watched his old grassroots club, St Patrick’s, lose 4-3 to Newtontownstewart United in the Brendan Keogh Memorial Cup.
What a crazy year it has been for the youngster, who won the EFL Trophy with Bolton and is now a household name among Liverpool fans, thanks to a great semi-final performance in the League Cup.
In his youth, he didn’t just play Association Football, though. Bradley was also a keen Gaelic Football player, and this photo recently went semi viral of him playing for Trillick at under-16 level.
Conor Bradley playing against Drumragh in an U16 league final in Trillick four years ago.#gaa pic.twitter.com/sxKLzP0SJS
— Patrick Griffin (@PatMGriffin15) January 11, 2024
Elsewhere, Liverpool players have been getting up to plenty, including warm-weather training (Andy Robertson), attending Milan fashion shows (Trent Alexander-Arnold) and taking in modern art (Curtis Jones).
Who knew we had such a cultured squad?
