Liverpool's Pursuit of Diomande: A Future Without Salah

Liverpool’s Salah succession plan has taken a sharp step forward, but with a clear warning attached: patience required.

Liverpool push for Diomande – but Leipzig name a brutal price

Liverpool’s search for Mohamed Salah’s long-term heir has zeroed in on one name. Yan Diomande. Nineteen years old, already tormenting defenders in the Bundesliga and now on the World Cup stage with Ivory Coast.

Inside Anfield, the belief is strong. Sporting director Richard Hughes views the RB Leipzig winger as the ideal fit to pick up the attacking burden once the Egyptian great walks away at the end of the season, closing the book on nine glittering years on Merseyside.

The problem sits in Germany.

Leipzig have no intention of cashing in early on a player they see as a cornerstone, not a commodity. Initial contact between Liverpool and the Bundesliga club dates back to December, when the first feelers went out over a move. The response then is the same as now: he is available only at a premium.

Talks are expected to open at around €100m (£87m, $116m) and could climb towards €120m (£104m, $140m). Leipzig believe his value will only rise over the next 12 months. Sell now, they fear, and they sell short.

Liverpool know the numbers. They also know they may have a powerful ally: the player himself.

World Cup showcase and a coach’s blunt message

Diomande’s profile jumped another level on Sunday. Under the lights of the World Cup, he delivered the kind of performance that makes recruitment departments sit up, helping Ivory Coast edge Ecuador 1-0 in Group E.

He drove at defenders. He slalomed past challenges. He gave Arsenal defender Piero Hincapié a long, uncomfortable evening, a duel that offered a glimpse of what Premier League full-backs could soon be facing.

His national coach, Emerse Fae, could feel the noise growing around his young star. The speculation followed Ivory Coast from camp to camp.

“When we were in France, during the preparation, journalists told me he was about to sign with PSG,” Fae said after the win over Ecuador. “Here, they tell me he’s about to sign with Liverpool!”

The coach’s stance is clear: the World Cup comes first.

“I don’t know, but for now, he will focus on the World Cup, and then afterwards, he can think about the rest of his career…”

For Liverpool, that means waiting. The groundwork is there, the interest is mutual, but nothing moves until Ivory Coast’s tournament ends.

What Fae did not hold back on was his assessment of Diomande’s character and ceiling.

“Yan – what can I say? I can’t put it into words,” he said, before trying anyway. He highlighted the winger’s work ethic, team-first attitude, willingness to listen, and the ability to decide games – all wrapped in the rawness of a teenager still learning his craft. In Fae’s eyes, Diomande is both a joy to coach and a nightmare to face, a player who “has what is needed” and already poses a serious problem even for a recent Champions League finalist like Hincapié.

Those are the traits Liverpool have long prized in their wide forwards.

A swap on the table?

The fee remains the sticking point. A nine-figure deal for a 19-year-old, even one this gifted, forces creative thinking.

Inside recruitment circles, one possible solution keeps surfacing: a swap involving Cody Gakpo. The Dutch forward, still a valuable asset, could be used to drive down Leipzig’s asking price if both clubs find common ground.

Nothing is agreed. No final framework is in place. But as the numbers rise, the idea of Gakpo heading in the opposite direction as part of a big-money package is viewed as a realistic avenue to explore rather than a fantasy.

What does seem clear is Diomande’s stance. The 19-year-old has, according to strong claims, already given the green light to a move to Anfield. The attraction is obvious: a leading role in Liverpool’s next attacking era, at one of the most demanding stages in world football.

Not just one winger on the radar

Diomande is not the only wide forward on Liverpool’s list.

Bradley Barcola, eager to leave PSG, has emerged as another headline option. Reporter Graeme Bailey has confirmed that the Frenchman wants out, with both Liverpool and Arsenal circling a potential deal that would not come cheap.

It underlines the scale of the task facing the club. Replacing Salah is not a one-name, one-bid exercise. It is a strategic reshaping of the frontline, built to survive and thrive beyond the era of a modern Liverpool legend.

Right now, though, all eyes are on a teenager lighting up the World Cup, a Bundesliga club holding firm, and a Merseyside hierarchy ready to wait for the right moment to strike.

When Salah finally walks down the Anfield tunnel for the last time, will Yan Diomande be the one sprinting out to take his place?