Liverpool Target Yan Diomande as Leipzig Resists Bigger Bids

Liverpool know exactly what they want in the post-Mohamed Salah era, and they’ve put a name on it: Yan Diomande.

The 19-year-old RB Leipzig winger has become the club’s top target to inherit the right flank that Salah turned into his personal stage over nine relentless, goal-soaked seasons. Salah’s departure at the end of the 2025/26 campaign left a void that isn’t just tactical. It’s symbolic. And Liverpool have decided Diomande is worth a fight that could break records.

A €100m rejection that barely slowed Liverpool

Liverpool’s opening move was anything but timid. A package worth €100m (£87m, $116m) went in, a statement as much as a bid. Leipzig didn’t blink. They turned it down without even naming a clear asking price.

Inside the Bundesliga club, the stance is hard and uncomplicated: they want Diomande for at least one more season. No release clause. A rising market value. Nineteen years old. A long-term contract already in place. Those factors have emboldened Leipzig to set the bar sky-high, and, as Sky Germany’s Philipp Hinze outlined, only an offer “significantly above €100m” is likely to move them.

The message from Germany is blunt: the player is not untouchable, but he will be paid for accordingly.

Liverpool play the long game with the player

The battle, though, is not just about numbers on a fax.

Behind the scenes, Liverpool have been relentless on what insiders like to call “the player side”. Fabrizio Romano, speaking on the Blood N Red podcast, lifted the lid on just how intense that push has been. Liverpool, he said, have been doing “excellent work” to secure Diomande’s approval and get him to tell Leipzig he wants Anfield.

This is not a new courtship. Liverpool officials have been in near-daily contact with Diomande’s entourage since December, laying out the project, the role, the future. The club’s confidence, Romano stressed, stems from that groundwork as much as from any financial muscle.

Leipzig, for their part, are trying to close that door before it opens. Talks are ongoing with Diomande’s representatives over a pay rise and an adjusted contract. The German side believe keeping him, giving him Champions League football and a bigger salary, then reassessing next summer is the smartest play.

Liverpool see the same facts and draw a different conclusion. They believe this is the moment to strike.

PSG step back, Liverpool step forward

One twist has tilted the landscape in Liverpool’s favour. PSG, previously serious contenders for Diomande, have pulled back over concerns about the escalating fee. With the French champions cooling their interest, Liverpool suddenly stand as the only major suitor in active pursuit.

That doesn’t make the deal easy. It just makes the lines clearer.

Sources insist Liverpool will press ahead with a second offer, and Romano has already confirmed they will “be back at the table” and “very aggressive”. The expectation is that their next bid will go beyond the €100m mark, a “big proposal” designed to test just how firm Leipzig’s resolve really is.

Crucially, there is a growing belief that Diomande himself wants the move to Anfield. If he pushes, Leipzig’s position becomes harder to maintain, however strong the contract and however high the fee.

Plan A: Diomande. Plan B: Barcola.

Liverpool are not walking this tightrope without a safety net. While Diomande remains the priority, the recruitment team have kept other options warm.

One of those is Bradley Barcola at PSG. Romano has spoken of Liverpool’s “love” for the 21-year-old, whose profile – direct, creative, comfortable in wide attacking roles – fits the club’s template for a modern forward. If PSG’s stance on Barcola softens, or if Diomande proves unreachable even at a record fee, Liverpool are ready to pivot.

This is not a scattergun summer. It’s a focused search for a marquee wide forward who can carry part of the Salah burden from day one.

A big arrival would trigger a big exit

There is another layer to all this. Landing Diomande or Barcola would almost certainly force a reshuffle in Liverpool’s existing attack.

One high-profile forward is expected to make way if a blockbuster signing arrives, and Tottenham Hotspur are already positioning themselves. Spurs are prepared to put a big-money five-year deal on the table for a Liverpool attacker, sensing an opportunity if the Anfield hierarchy need to balance minutes and, potentially, the books.

So the stakes are clear. Liverpool are preparing to go beyond €100m to prise a 19-year-old from a club that doesn’t want to sell, while PSG lurk in the background and Leipzig fight to keep their jewel for one more Champions League campaign.

The question now is not whether Liverpool will push. They will. It’s how far they are willing to go to make Yan Diomande the face of their new era on the right wing.