Liverpool’s Plan for Salah’s Successor: Diomande in Focus
Liverpool’s Salah succession plan has moved a step closer to clarity, but patience will be the price of progress.
Anfield’s recruitment team, led by sporting director Richard Hughes, see Yan Diomande as the heir to Mohamed Salah’s right‑wing throne. They have been working on the Leipzig starlet for months. The problem? RB Leipzig know exactly what they have – and what Europe is willing to pay for it.
Liverpool’s €100m question
Initial contacts, first reported back in December, have already laid the groundwork between Liverpool and Leipzig. No one is pretending this will be a bargain. The German club are braced for a fight and are in no rush to cash in.
Any serious negotiation, sources insist, starts at around €100m (£87m, $116m) and could climb towards €120m (£104m, $140m). Leipzig believe another year in the Bundesliga and in Europe will only inflate that figure. Selling now, in their eyes, risks leaving money on the table.
Liverpool, searching for a successor to an icon who has delivered nine glittering years at Anfield, know the scale of the task. Salah’s goals, his durability, his aura – replacing that is not a simple scouting exercise. It’s a strategic reset of the forward line.
Hughes, though, is convinced Diomande fits the brief.
World Cup stage, transfer spotlight
The 19‑year‑old’s profile surged again on Sunday. In Ivory Coast’s 1-0 World Cup win over Ecuador, Diomande did what he does best: isolate defenders, drive at them, and keep the ball tied to his feet as if on a string.
Arsenal’s Piero Hincapié, a Champions League finalist, found out the hard way. Diomande completed four dribbles and gave the defender a relentless, uncomfortable evening, a glimpse of what Premier League full-backs could soon be facing.
His national coach, Emerse Fae, has seen the noise building around his young winger and moved quickly to draw a line under the speculation – at least for now.
“When we were in France, during the preparation, journalists told me he was about to sign with PSG,” Fae said after the Group E win. “Here, they tell me he’s about to sign with Liverpool!
“I don’t know, but for now, he will focus on the World Cup, and then afterwards, he can think about the rest of his career…”
Behind the scenes, the message is clear: no decisions, no distractions until Ivory Coast’s World Cup journey is over. That means Liverpool must wait, even as confidence grows that Diomande has already given the green light to a move to Anfield.
Fae’s admiration for his winger went beyond the highlight reels.
“Yan – what can I say? I can’t put it into words,” he said. “He’s very talented, but beyond the talent, he’s very young, and he’ll improve.
“He’s a kid who works hard, has a real team spirit, laughs with everyone, and he listens, listens to the technical staff whenever he’s given advice, and tries to do his best, as he’s told.
“It’s easy to work with someone like Yan, he’s so talented and has what is needed, plus he can give you the victory and was a real challenge for Hincapié, a Champions League finalist.”
That blend of flair and humility is exactly what Liverpool want in the post‑Salah era: a match‑winner who will buy into the collective.
Gakpo on the table?
The numbers involved mean Liverpool are exploring creative ways to make the deal work. Straight cash at Leipzig’s asking price would be a huge outlay, even for a player they believe can define their attack for the next decade.
One route being discussed by sources close to the situation is a swap‑plus‑cash deal that would see Cody Gakpo move to Leipzig. The Dutchman’s versatility and age profile fit the Bundesliga club’s model, and his inclusion could significantly reduce the fee Liverpool need to put down.
Nothing is agreed, and no formal offer has been lodged, but the concept of Gakpo heading in the opposite direction is being treated as a “constructive avenue” in talks.
What is not in doubt is Diomande’s appetite for the move. The 19‑year‑old is understood to have said yes to the idea of joining Liverpool, with the Premier League and Anfield’s stage pulling strongly at his ambitions.
Barcola in the frame
Liverpool are not betting everything on one winger. As Salah prepares to leave at the end of the season, the club’s recruitment strategy is casting a wider net across Europe’s elite wide forwards.
Reporter Graeme Bailey has confirmed that Bradley Barcola wants to leave PSG, and the Frenchman has emerged as another high‑end option under consideration. Liverpool and Arsenal are both tracking the 21‑year‑old, who offers a different profile but the same promise of long‑term upside.
Two young wingers. One era‑defining gap to fill.
Liverpool know they cannot afford to get this one wrong. The question now is whether they are prepared to pay Leipzig’s price, wait out the World Cup, and potentially sacrifice Gakpo to land Diomande – or whether Barcola, and others like him, will reshape the club’s attack instead.
