Liverpool head coach Arne Slot left Luis Diaz out of their 4-2 friendly defeat to AC Milan in Hong Kong due to ongoing speculation about his future.

Bayern Munich are understood to have reopened dialogue with the Premier League champions, having had an initial offer of 67.5million euros (£59m) dismissed last week.

Liverpool have maintained they do not want to sell the forward – who has also attracted interest from Barcelona – and the Bundesliga champions’ bid was way below their own valuation of 100m euro (£87m) for an elite forward in the global market.

Diaz turns 29 in January and has two years left on his current deal but has not yet had an offer of a new contract.

“In Lucho’s (Diaz’s) situation, there’s a lot of rumours around him lately and I cannot go into that,” said Slot.

“He’s training really well with us but we have decided for now not to play him yet.

“I’m used to talking to most of my players on a regular basis. I cannot comment much more about that.”

Asked whether Diaz wanted to leave, Slot added: “That is not the person to ask, me.”

Striker Darwin Nunez, whose own future appears to lie away from Anfield, and midfielder Wataru Endo missed the game with minor fitness issues.

Club-record signing Florian Wirtz made his first start as a false nine, with latest signing Hugo Ekitike left out of the squad, having only arrived on Thursday after completing his arrival in a £79m deal on Wednesday.

Slot played two different starting XIs in each half, with midfielder Ryan Gravenberch and left-back Kostas Tsimikas both required to fill a centre-back role after Joe Gomez returned home for treatment on an Achilles injury.

“We thought it was better to assess it back in England and for him to work on him to come back to the team, probably in more ideal circumstances for him,” added Slot, who denied Gomez’s absence left him dangerously-short in the position after selling Jarrell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen.

“I don’t think we have a concern at centre-back. I think Ryan (Gravenberch) showed today that he can play in that position. He did it last season as well.

“Although we all know we favour him as a number six, Wata (Endo) can play there. Joe Gomez only has a minor injury, he has been good for us last season as well.

“We have enough options left but it’s true that Jarell Quansah left and we haven’t replaced him yet.”

Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo scored the goals for Liverpool, who paid tribute to forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva after their deaths in a car crash earlier this month.

Players wore shirts bearing a logo with the Portugal international’s name and number and a heart, and Sir Kenny Dalglish laid a wreath in front of supporters who held up a DJ 20 mosaic.