Liverpool Targets Yan Diomande as Mohamed Salah Replacement
Liverpool’s search for a new attacking spearhead after Mohamed Salah is starting to narrow – and fast.
RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande, one of Europe’s most explosive teenagers, is now said to be prioritising a move to Anfield over rival suitors, despite heavyweight interest from Paris Saint-Germain.
Diomande buys into Iraola’s Liverpool
Liverpool’s response to a flat 2025/26 campaign is expected to be aggressive. Andoni Iraola wants pace, directness and goals out wide to reshape an attack that has lost its talisman in Salah. Diomande ticks every box.
The 19-year-old is coming off a breakout season in the Bundesliga that has turned him from a promising prospect into a headline name. Twelve league goals, eight assists, 33 appearances. Those numbers would be impressive for a seasoned forward; for a teenager in his first full campaign, they are the sort of figures that make recruitment departments sit up.
He has carried that form onto the international stage. Diomande’s World Cup debut for Ivory Coast against Ecuador showcased the same fearlessness he has shown for Leipzig – running at defenders, committing them, stretching the pitch. It was the kind of performance that turns a scouting note into a transfer push.
Liverpool have already been reported as “pushing” to bring him in, and the noise around the deal has only grown. Ivory Coast’s manager has openly suggested he is hearing that the winger is heading to Anfield this summer. Now, Liverpool reporter James William has gone a step further, claiming Diomande has shifted his focus firmly towards Merseyside.
“Understand Liverpool have made progress in the attempt to sign RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande, player is now prioritising a move to Liverpool. Convinced by the project Diomande is eager to join Iraola’s plans,” William wrote on X.
That line – “convinced by the project” – matters. It hints at more than a financial tug-of-war. It suggests Liverpool have sold him on a central role in Iraola’s rebuild, not a supporting act.
PSG lurking – and Barcola in the background
The battle is far from over, though. PSG rarely walk away quietly when a 19-year-old with Diomande’s ceiling comes onto the market.
Former Aston Villa forward Gabby Agbonlahor believes the French champions will still win this particular race – and that such a scenario could open a different door for Liverpool.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Agbonlahor underlined just how quickly Diomande’s value could spiral.
“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 dribbling numbers are elite by any standard. They paint the picture of a winger who doesn’t just threaten – he relentlessly isolates and beats his man, over and over again.
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.
“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.”
PSG’s reported £80m valuation of Bradley Barcola underlines the scale of the market Liverpool are now operating in. Barcola is a serious talent in his own right, a wide forward with pace and flair, but Diomande’s end product and raw numbers at 19 push him into a different bracket.
A decisive call in Liverpool’s new era
This is the kind of decision that can define the first phase of Iraola’s tenure. Liverpool are not just replacing Salah’s goals; they are trying to redefine what their front line looks like for the next five years.
Do they land the 19-year-old dribbler who has ripped up the Bundesliga and lit up a World Cup debut, or pivot to an £80m alternative squeezed out of a PSG squad overflowing with wingers?
Right now, Diomande is said to want Anfield. PSG want him. Liverpool need him. The next move will say plenty about how bold this new Liverpool really is.
