Liverpool target Yan Diomande is ‘ready to agree’ a move from RB Leipzig to replace Mohamed Salah, according to sources close to the player.
The talismanic Salah revealed in March that, despite signing a two-year extension last summer, this will be his last season at Liverpool, having fallen out of favour in recent months with manager Arne Slot.
The Reds are expected to invest heavily once again this summer after a tough campaign defending their Premier League title, but have identified RB Leipzig starlet Yan Diomande as their primary target to replace 33-year-old Salah, with the deal moving closer to completion in recent days.
Yan Diomande ‘ready to agree’ Liverpool switch, with £87m move touted
After trials with Chelsea and Rangers, Diomande has found his way to the top of European football the long way around, having cut his teeth in the fifth tier of Spanish football with Leganes' B team before a move to East Germany in January 2025.
FourFourTwo's Joe Donnohue profiled the Ivorian in our The Boy's A Bit Special series, claiming that the winger, “has always been an early developer for his age and leverages his physicality to great effect, drifting past challenges and making it look easy, as well as working hard out of possession,” marking him out for his similarities with Salah – who leaves Merseyside ranked at no.5 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest Premier League players of all time.
According to a new report from TEAMtalk, sources have confirmed Liverpool are confident of striking personal terms with Diomande ahead of a blockbuster move this summer, with the teenager “ready to agree” to a move.
Liverpool struck gold last summer with the last big-money Bundesliga attacker they signed, bringing Hugo Ekitike to England from Eintracht Frankfurt for an initial £69 million, as per the BBC – with the Frenchman netting 17 goals before his season was curtailed prematurely by an Achilles rupture sustained against former club, Paris Saint-Germain.
FourFourTwo understands that Diomande has been a target for well over a year, with his tactical flexibility said to be a key factor in the interest, though the fee demanded by Leipzig for his sale could well reach up to €100m, around £87m.
The Reds will be keen to keep that figure down, with the club looking at bringing in new signings in goal, at centre-back, left-back, defensive midfield and attack, in what could be another expensive transfer window.
Leipzig, meanwhile, are said to be keen to tie Diomande down to a longer-term deal with a release clause, similarly to how they kept Benjamin Sesko amid interest from Arsenal in 2024, only to sell him to Manchester United for more money in 2025.
In FourFourTwo's opinion, a player of the Ivorian's profile is a must this summer with Slot having plenty of attackers who demand the ball played to feet in his squad, and fewer ‘runner’-type wingers available to him – and with Ekitike having been a hit after a move from the Bundesliga, Diomande could well thrive with a similar blend of physicality and technical prowess.
The 19-year-old is valued at €75m, according to Transfermarkt. Liverpool host Crystal Palace this weekend when Premier League action returns.
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