The £87m star would like to join Liverpool

Football is a game with peaks and valleys, but Liverpool will not want to revisit the 2025/26 season anytime soon, having come so far from their peak last year.

When Arne Slot walked into Anfield and led Jurgen Klopp’s side to their first Premier League title since 2020, he was hailed as one of the best young coaches in the world.

Now, a year later, he has been sacked, and the Reds have appointed Andoni Iraola following a poor year.

It has been coming, but Liverpool now need to make drastic changes before the new season, and while Iraola brings a strong form of attacking football, he can do more without the intervention of FSG, who bring in new signings.

FSG’s top target wants to join Liverpool

Iraola will make some changes at Liverpool, bringing back the punchy, high octane flavour. You will need physical strength and stamina in the middle of the park, but the Spanish set-up also requires active and energetic wings.

This means Liverpool need to nail down Mohamed Salah’s replacement this summer. The king of Egypt praised the deception of the second year of Slot, and although his decision to end his stay a year ahead of schedule was shocking, there is no doubt that Liverpool need to improve on their right side.

This is where Yan Diomande comes in. According to transfer insider Ben Jacobs, speaking on GIVEMESPORT’s Market Madness podcast, the RB Leipzig winger is open to joining the Anfield club this summer, despite interest from rivals Indomitable Force Paris Saint-Germain.

Leipzig does not want to sell, and expects nine digits, if Diomande makes clear his desire to move to the Premier League or France. Although before Diomande’s price tag stood at €100m (£87m), they now want to see negotiations opened for that price, meaning the price could rise significantly.

Jacobs says: “Liverpool has a good relationship with Diomande’s agency and Leipzig as well. So they are one of the frontrunners, and I can say that Diomande is Liverpool’s top choice, the best choice and they have made progress on the player’s side, so they have a lot of hope within Liverpool that Diomande would like to join, although the player, like his PSG conversation a few weeks ago, I think PSG just discussed.”

Liverpool need to get rid of this star signing, get a good talent with something Jude Bellingham-esque about him.

Why Diomande could be Liverpool’s Bellingham

Diomande is only 19 years old, but has already established himself as one of the most exciting and in-demand wingers in all of Europe.

The Ivory Coast international is expected to make a big splash at the World Cup, and Liverpool will be hoping to tie up negotiations before making his name known around the world, thereby increasing his price tag – and then some.

Whether Liverpool can do a deal and fend off PSG’s advances remains to be seen, but if they do, they could avenge Bellingham’s failed bid in 2023, taking out the race for Borussia Dortmund’s prodigious talent as Real Madrid enter.

Diomande and Bellingham are not the same, but the Leipzig star is similar to the England attacking star in enjoying years of Bundesliga prominence, with journalist Bence Bocsak saying, “Whatever it costs, he’s a star. It’s worth every penny.”

Liverpool have found another way to deal with their midfield problem in 2023, but Bellingham would certainly be an upgrade on the likes of Jordan Henderson and James Milner. Now, the same goes for Diomande, well ahead of Salah at the end of his incredible Liverpool journey.

Diomande will clearly offer more than Salah down the right. The Egyptian king fell off the proverbial cliff during the reigning Slot era, aging and clashing with the Dutchman’s dysfunctional system. Salah has voiced his concerns about the style of football Liverpool have turned to, and in fairness, he’s got his wish now that Iraola is in charge.

Liverpool may not have signed Bellingham back, but if they landed Diomande, they would have secured a star signing at PSG’s expense. The era of Iraola will begin to be a flight, which may shoot Liverpool back to the contention for the title that the fans have been waiting for in the last decade.