Liverpool open talks to sign ‘electric’ £87m star Cherki

This week it was reported that Liverpool coach Arne Slot is expected to be retained by the club at the end of the season.

The Dutchman has been criticized for the club’s decline on the pitch this season after the Reds won the Premier League title in his first year in charge.

However, £125m signing Alexander Isak has made 12 appearances in the league so far and recently lost Hugo Ekitike to an Achilles injury.

Mohamed Salah, who will leave the club this summer, also did not work as well as he did last year. The striker scored 34 goals and provided 23 assists in the 2024/25 campaign, yet has 12 goals and nine assists this season.

The upcoming summer window, however, will give the club the opportunity to go back and improve the squad to compete for trophies next term.

Liverpool are opening talks to sign £87m striker Arne Slot

With Salah set to move on at the end of the campaign, it’s clear to anyone to see that Liverpool need to strengthen their options at the other end of the pitch.

The Egyptian has scored 257 goals and provided 122 assists in 439 games for the Reds in all competitions so far, and it will not be easy to replace his quality in the final third.

Now, according to TEAMtalk, Liverpool have set their sights on a deal to sign RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande in a bid to replace Salah in the summer transfer window.

The report states that the club have contacted the player’s representatives to open negotiations for a ‘legitimate’ fee to sign the Ivory Coast star at the start of the season.

It added that the Reds have made the forward their number one target and are willing to pay up to £87m to secure his services ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.

TEAMtalk also reveal that the Premier League giants would like to reach a deal to bring him to Anfield before the 2026 World Cup kicks off.

Liverpool could unearth their own Ryan Cherki

Liverpool need to overtake Arsenal and Manchester City to reclaim the Premier League title next year, and they could do so by signing their own version of Ryan Cherki in Diomande.

Cherki has been a revelation for the Cityzens, after Liverpool reportedly held talks to sign him from Lyon last year, with a return of 10 goals and 14 assists in all competitions this season.

The France international plays with a refreshing swagger and a level of creativity that feels very rare in the Premier League right now, while Diomande is cut from the same cloth.

The wizard on the wing of Leipzig is a two-footed, quick, unafraid to take on players and create moments of magic. Instead of worrying about losing the ball, the 19-year-old star is showing courage and trying things that other players wouldn’t, like Cherki.

As a Manchester City star, Diomande excels as a goalscorer, creator, and driving player, evidenced by his ranking among Bundesliga wingers in key attacking metrics this season.

The young striker, described as “electric” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, has completed 39 more dribbles than any other player in the Bundesliga, making him the only star in the division to have completed 100 or more.

Diomande is the kind of maverick Liverpool have been lacking in the Premier League this season, with no player completing more than 1.4 dribbles per game, and he would be a fantastic addition to the side.

The Ivorian can be the Slot version of Cherki because he can be a wildcard that produces a moment of magic to wake up a difficult game in life when the rest of the team is not doing so well.

His pace, intelligence, and goalscoring quality make him a constant threat at the other end of the pitch, despite being only 19, which is why he would be worth the Reds’ reported £87m fee.

Now it’s up to Richard Hughes to get an agreement with Leipzig for the talent from Ivory Coast because he can be one of Salah’s dreams, a goalscorer and creator of goals, and he is also the team’s Cherki next season.

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