Liverpool's Salah Succession Plan: Diomande or Minteh?

Liverpool’s search for the heir to Mohamed Salah is beginning to harden into a two-track strategy: go all-in on RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande, or pivot quickly to Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh at a fraction of the price.

Salah’s departure this summer, ending nine years of relentless output on the right flank, has left a clear priority at Anfield. The club want a winger. Not a squad option, not a project. A headline act.

Diomande: the £112m statement

Diomande is the name at the top of the list. Liverpool know it, Leipzig know it, and the market knows it. The 22-year-old is expected to cost around €130million (£112m), a fee that would place him among the most expensive signings in Premier League history.

There is a sense inside the club that he is worth the fight. His performances for Ivory Coast at the World Cup have driven his value and his profile upwards, and Liverpool view him as a ready-made pillar of their next era. He is not just another wide forward; he is being positioned as Salah’s long-term successor on that right side.

The club have already tested Leipzig’s resolve. A £90million offer has been turned down, but Liverpool have not walked away. Since Andoni Iraola’s arrival, talks have intensified rather than cooled. The new head coach has been presented with Diomande as a cornerstone of his attack, and the club have laid out to the player a detailed vision of how he fits into the rebuild.

That pitch has landed. Behind the scenes, Liverpool sources believe Diomande wants the move to Anfield. The club are working hard on the player side, trying to secure a clear signal from him that he is ready to push Leipzig and say, in essence: let me go to Liverpool.

That belief is feeding confidence. Liverpool are convinced they can get this done if they manage the negotiations and the timing correctly.

Minteh: the £40m alternative

But the numbers matter. £112m is a huge commitment, even for a club of Liverpool’s scale, and there is no guarantee they will ultimately meet Leipzig’s demands.

If they decide the fee has gone too far, the plan is already drawn up. Caught Offside report that Brighton winger Yankuba Minteh will be one of the first names Liverpool move for if Diomande proves unattainable.

The attraction is obvious. Liverpool are understood to have ringfenced around £40million for a potential deal for the Seagulls’ wide man. That is £72million less than Diomande’s projected cost – a saving that would reshape what else they can do in the market.

Minteh brings a profile that fits Iraola’s blueprint: explosive pace, direct running, and real threat in one-v-one situations. He is not the global headline that Diomande has become, but he ticks key tactical boxes and offers a more flexible financial route into the post-Salah landscape.

For Liverpool’s recruitment team, that balance between star power and squad construction is crucial. Diomande would be the marquee signing of the summer. Minteh would be the shrewd, budget-conscious alternative who still fits the manager’s demands.

A pivotal call at Anfield

Right now, all roads still lead towards Diomande. The club remain aggressive, emboldened by the belief that the player wants Anfield and that their long-term vision has convinced him he can become one of the faces of Liverpool’s new era.

But the market rarely runs in straight lines. If Leipzig hold firm on the fee, if negotiations drag, Liverpool know they cannot afford to be left without a top-level right winger when the season starts.

That is where Minteh comes in: not as a panic buy, but as a ready-made Plan B.

Liverpool have chosen their path. The only question now is whether they walk into the new season with a £112m statement signing on the right, or a £40m challenger ready to grow into Salah’s old territory.