Liverpool Targets Yan Diomande for Post-Salah Rebuild
Liverpool’s post-Salah rebuild has a clear focal point – and his name is Yan Diomande.
The 19-year-old RB Leipzig winger, fresh from a breakout Bundesliga season and a sharp World Cup debut with Ivory Coast, is now “prioritising” a move to Anfield over other suitors, according to Liverpool reporter James William.
On X, William reported that Liverpool have “made progress” in their attempt to sign Diomande, adding that the teenager has been “convinced by the project” and is eager to slot into Andoni Iraola’s plans. For a club staring at life after Mohamed Salah, that line matters as much as any statistic.
A new face for a new front line
Liverpool’s 2025/26 campaign fell short of expectations, and the response from the hierarchy is expected to be aggressive. Multiple positions need reinforcing, but the wide areas sit at the top of the list after Salah’s exit. Diomande has quickly emerged as one of the headline options.
His numbers with RB Leipzig explain why. Twelve goals and eight assists in 33 Bundesliga appearances at 19 is not a prospect’s return; it’s a ready-made starter’s output. He followed that up on the biggest stage, catching the eye for Ivory Coast against Ecuador at the World Cup, a performance that underlined his ability to carry form from club to country.
That kind of rise does not go unnoticed. Paris Saint-Germain are in the frame, and in France there is a growing sense that the Ligue 1 champions see Diomande as the next big attacking piece in their own evolution.
PSG pull, Anfield project
This is where the tug of war becomes intriguing. Liverpool can offer a starring role in a side being reshaped under Iraola, a coach whose high-intensity, front-foot football suits Diomande’s direct, dribble-heavy style. PSG, though, can offer the Paris stage, a stacked squad and the financial muscle that tends to bend most transfer races their way.
Former Aston Villa forward Gabby Agbonlahor believes that dynamic will ultimately tilt the deal towards Paris.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Agbonlahor pointed to Diomande’s age and ceiling as the key drivers of his value and his appeal.
“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 – especially the 118 successful dribbles, a full 50 more than any other player – paint the picture of a winger who doesn’t just threaten; he relentlessly attacks his full-back.
The Barcola domino
Agbonlahor’s prediction is blunt: Diomande to PSG, and Bradley Barcola to Liverpool.
“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,” he said.
Barcola, valued at around £80m, has long been viewed as one of the most exciting wide forwards in Europe. For Liverpool, he would represent a different type of signing to Diomande: slightly older, already blooded at a superclub, and perhaps less explosive but more rounded in certain phases.
Agbonlahor is clear where he sees the higher ceiling.
“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.”
“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.”
That Sancho comparison is a warning as much as a reminder of potential. Pay huge money for a young winger, and the upside is transformative. Get it wrong, and the deal hangs over a club for years.
Liverpool know that story well from across the North-West. They also know they cannot drift through a summer after losing Salah. With Diomande now said to be leaning towards Anfield and PSG lurking, the next move in this three-club triangle will tell us plenty about how bold Liverpool are prepared to be in reshaping their attack – and how much risk they’re willing to carry to find their next superstar wide man.
