Liverpool Targets Yan Diomande as Salah Replacement
Liverpool’s post‑Salah rebuild has found its headline act. Now comes the fight to actually get him.
RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande, one of Europe’s most explosive breakout talents, is now “prioritising” a move to Anfield over rival suitors, according to Liverpool reporter James William. The 19-year-old, fresh from a blistering first full season in the Bundesliga, has been convinced by Andoni Iraola’s project and is eager to slot into the Spaniard’s plans.
This is the profile Liverpool have been gearing up to chase. Young, direct, ruthless in transition. And crucially, a wide forward capable of softening the blow of Mohamed Salah’s departure.
A new focal point for Iraola
Liverpool are expected to be aggressive in this summer’s market after a flat 2025/26 campaign exposed a squad in need of fresh energy across several lines. Wide areas sit near the top of that list. Salah’s exit has left a void not just in goals, but in personality and fear factor.
Diomande ticks every box on the recruitment sheet. For Leipzig last season, he delivered 12 goals and 8 assists in 33 Bundesliga appearances, numbers that only tell part of the story. His game is built on constant threat: he drives at defenders, commits them, forces mistakes. His World Cup debut for Ivory Coast against Ecuador only underlined that point, as he carried his club form onto the biggest stage.
Liverpool have been “pushing” for his signature, and even Ivory Coast’s manager has publicly admitted he is hearing that the winger is heading to Anfield this summer. The noise around the deal has grown louder with each passing week.
William’s latest update sharpened that narrative. Posting on X, he reported that Liverpool have “made progress” in their attempt to sign Diomande and that the player is now prioritising a move to Merseyside, convinced by the project under Iraola.
For Liverpool, that’s the first battle won. The second is fending off Paris.
PSG in the shadows – and Barcola in the frame
Paris Saint‑Germain have been tracking Diomande as well, and they rarely walk away quietly when they identify a 19-year-old with this level of upside. Ligue 1 has been their playground for years; the Bundesliga is hardly out of reach.
Former Aston Villa forward Gabby Agbonlahor believes the French champions will ultimately win that race – and that the consequence will be Liverpool turning to another PSG winger, Bradley Barcola, as their alternative.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Agbonlahor underlined why Diomande’s price and profile have put him in that elite bracket.
“When you’re that good at that age and you have so long left of your career, if you don’t get injured of course, your price tag is going to be so much higher than a 24-year-old,” he said.
“I know he’s not proven amazingly yet but last season Diomande scored 12 goals and had nine assists in the league for Leipzig, he’s 19 years of age.
“Over the season, he has 118 successful dribbles, 50 more than anyone else and last night he made Hincapie look ordinary. He twisted him left, right and centre on the big stage.”
Those numbers are staggering. One hundred and eighteen successful dribbles, fifty more than the next player, is the statistical footprint of a winger who doesn’t just participate in games – he bends them to his will.
Agbonlahor’s prediction is blunt: “I think he goes to PSG because of the way they’re performing at the moment and PSG will let Barcola go to Liverpool because they don’t need that many wingers.”
Barcola, valued at around £80m, would not be a consolation prize in most windows. Quick, technical, and already used to the weight of expectation in Paris, he would arrive as a major investment and a central piece of Iraola’s rebuild. But Agbonlahor is in no doubt which of the two he sees as the more devastating option.
“Diomande would 100 per cent get straight in the team and it looks like he would score more goals than Barcola, he likes to miss a lot of chances,” he added. “Either way, Liverpool will get one of the two players but PSG will want the 19-year-old.
“It’s like Jadon Sancho, United paid 75mil for him, if he comes over and it doesn’t work, it’s a big risk.”
A high‑stakes decision at Anfield
That is the tightrope Liverpool now walk. The upside of Diomande is obvious: a 19-year-old winger already dominating defenders, already producing end product, already shining on the international stage. The risk is just as clear. The fee will be huge. The expectation even bigger. The Premier League is a different storm.
Liverpool’s recruitment team have built their recent history on winning exactly these battles – getting to the player before he explodes fully, backing their data and their scouts, trusting the environment at Anfield to do the rest.
Right now, the player wants Liverpool. PSG want the player. And in the background, Barcola waits as the £80m safety net.
For a club trying to redraw its attacking blueprint after Salah, this isn’t just another transfer chase. It’s a statement about what Liverpool want to be in the next era – and who they trust to lead it from the wing.
