Liverpool's Summer Rebuild: Iraola Targets Diomande and Eichhorn

Liverpool are wasting no time testing the market for Andoni Iraola, and the message from Anfield is blunt: this rebuild will not wait.

The club confirmed the Spaniard’s arrival on a two-year deal on Thursday evening, replacing Arne Slot, and the gears behind the scenes have already started to grind. A fifth-place finish in the Premier League and the loss of three senior pillars – Andy Robertson, Mohamed Salah and Ibrahima Konaté – on free transfers have stripped away any illusion that minor tweaks will do.

This is a reset.

Diomande pursuit signals intent after Salah exit

Liverpool’s search for a successor to Salah has taken them straight to RB Leipzig and one of Europe’s most explosive young wide forwards.

Respected reporter David Ornstein has confirmed that Liverpool are in contact with the Bundesliga club over teenage winger Yan Diomande, a 19-year-old Ivory Coast international who has just delivered a breakout season. Leipzig do not want to sell. If they budge, they are prepared to demand around £112 million.

That figure tells its own story. So does the competition.

Paris Saint-Germain are in the race, but Liverpool are understood to be ahead at this stage, buoyed by the player’s camp and by Diomande’s profile: direct, productive, and fearless. In his first full senior campaign he scored 13 goals and provided 10 assists, numbers that have lit up scouting reports across the continent.

From Liverpool’s side, the attraction is obvious. Salah’s departure has left a gaping hole in both end product and aura. Diomande is not a like-for-like replacement, not yet, but he offers something clubs at this level rarely find in the same package: output now, and the promise of a much higher ceiling.

The Merseyside club believe they are in the strongest position from the player’s perspective. They see a teenager ready to step into a bigger spotlight, and a squad that badly needs a new attacking reference point.

Liverpool double down with Eichhorn push

The strategy does not stop with one marquee winger. While negotiations around Diomande simmer, Liverpool are pushing hard for another of Germany’s most coveted youngsters: Hertha Berlin’s Kennet Eichhorn.

Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg reported on Thursday that Liverpool have held fresh talks in the last 48 hours as they accelerate their move for the 16-year-old midfielder. The timing is no coincidence. Hertha failed to win promotion back to the Bundesliga, and that failure has opened a window.

Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund are already in the frame. So are Liverpool. Eichhorn, for now, is listening to all of them.

The teenager is open to every option as the summer begins, but Liverpool are making a clear play to pull him to England. They know what they are competing with: German clubs who can offer continuity and familiarity, and a development pathway that has already taken him into senior football.

A 16-year-old with a Toni Kroos comparison

If Diomande looks like a ready-made attacking weapon, Eichhorn carries the kind of midfield promise that top clubs build around.

He does not turn 17 until next month, yet he has already made 19 senior appearances for Hertha. At 16, that volume of first-team football is a statement in itself. Only an ankle injury and a red-card suspension late in the season stopped that number from climbing higher.

Tall, composed and technically assured, Eichhorn has moved through Hertha’s system and into the first team with a calm that belies his age. Coaches talk about his maturity. Team-mates have seen enough to speak up as well.

Hertha captain Fabian Reese has called him “an incredible, exceptional talent”. In Germany, some have already likened his style to Toni Kroos – a comparison that carries its own weight and expectation.

That reputation has not gone unnoticed. Scouts from Liverpool, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Barcelona have all tracked him. The question now is whether those giants decide to turn interest into formal bids as the window unfolds.

For Liverpool, the equation is clear. Diomande would address the immediate shock of losing Salah. Eichhorn would feed the next generation of their midfield. Iraola’s first weeks on Merseyside are being framed by two teenagers in Germany – one already lighting up the final third, the other learning how to run a game.

If Liverpool land even one of them, this summer looks bold. If they land both, Iraola’s new era starts with a jolt that will be felt across Europe.