Liverpool and Tottenham Target Andreas Schjelderup as Winger Market Moves

Liverpool and Tottenham are circling one of Norway’s rising stars, with Andreas Schjelderup emerging as a live option in a winger market that is starting to move sharply. At the same time, noise around Liverpool’s pursuit of RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande has been cut down to size, with talk of a nine-figure second bid firmly dismissed.

Liverpool rebuild the flanks

Liverpool have already made their first decisive move out wide, winning the race with Newcastle United for Victor Munoz in a €40million (£34.5m) deal. The Spaniard arrives to push Cody Gakpo on the left, giving Liverpool fresh legs and genuine competition in an area that will look very different this season.

It has to. Mohamed Salah has gone, walking away on a free transfer and leaving a hole on the right that cannot be patched over lightly. Gakpo may also be asked to spend time through the middle to help Alexander Isak until Hugo Ekitike returns from an Achilles injury, stretching Liverpool’s attacking options even further.

So the search continues. Diomande remains the headline target, but he is not the only name on the recruitment board.

Schjelderup on Premier League radar

Reports from Italy claim Benfica’s Andreas Schjelderup is being tracked closely by Liverpool’s hierarchy, with Tottenham also in the frame. Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Como are watching as well, but the Premier League interest carries a different kind of weight.

Schjelderup, 22, has just come off a statement season in Lisbon. He produced 10 goals and seven assists in 43 games for Benfica, playing his part as Jose Mourinho’s side went unbeaten in the Primeira Liga yet somehow still failed to lift the title. That club form carried him into Norway’s World Cup campaign, where he featured in their first two group matches and underlined his status as one of the country’s new standard-bearers.

Benfica paid €14m to sign him. That number already looks outdated. Initial suggestions put his current value at around €30m (£26m), more than double the original fee, but Portuguese outlet Record has drawn a harder line: the Lisbon club will only entertain offers from €40m upwards.

Tottenham, according to Record, have “burst” into the race, joining Liverpool in testing the waters. Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb backs up that picture, describing both Premier League clubs as “following” the player ahead of possible talks.

Schjelderup’s profile is clear. He is primarily a left winger, cutting in, combining, and finishing from that side. For Liverpool, that raises a question rather than answers one. Munoz has already strengthened that flank. The bigger gap is elsewhere.

Diomande: the real prize

That is where Yan Diomande comes in. The Leipzig winger is the player Liverpool truly want, the one they see as the cornerstone of their wide rebuild.

On Thursday, speculation flared that Liverpool had dramatically raised their offer, jumping from an initial €100m (£86m) to a new bid of €116m (£100m) after the first attempt was turned down. The story travelled quickly. Too quickly.

Sky Germany’s Philipp Hinze moved just as fast to shut it down. The claim of a second bid, he said, is “not true”. There has been no new formal offer. Inside Anfield, the debate is still ongoing over whether to go back in and how hard to push.

Figures of €116-120m (up to £104m) are being discussed as possible levels for a second proposal. That kind of money would force Leipzig to think. It still might not force them to sell.

Leipzig’s stance is brutal but clear. As revealed on June 19, they are holding out for a Bundesliga-record €148m (£128m). They want Diomande to stay for at least one more year, and they are using that valuation as both shield and statement.

Liverpool know the scale of the gamble. Even at those numbers, Diomande remains the preferred option over Schjelderup. The reason is simple: versatility. While the Norwegian is largely tied to the left, Diomande is equally dangerous on either flank, a winger who can switch sides without dropping his level and tilt a game from both touchlines.

In a squad suddenly stripped of Salah and juggling roles for Gakpo and Isak, that kind of flexibility is gold.

So the picture is set. Schjelderup is a serious, monitored opportunity, with Spurs now on the scene and Benfica driving a hard bargain. Diomande is the obsession, the potential record-breaker who could redefine Liverpool’s attack.

The next bid, if it comes, will say everything about how far Liverpool are prepared to go to make that happen.