Report: Liverpool could offer one player as a sweetener for prospective Yan Diomande swoop | OneFootball

Liverpool could plausibly offer one of their players as a sweetener to try and sign Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig this summer.

That’s according to Paul Joyce, who’s reported of the Reds’ ongoing interest in the Ivory Coast international, who’s publicly played down speculation over an exit from his current club in the off-season.

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Another forward going into the summer with uncertainty over his future is Harvey Elliott, who’s returning to Anfield after an abortive loan spell at Aston Villa and is widely expected to be sold in the coming months if an acceptable offer is tabled from elsewhere.

Liverpool could offer Elliott as part of potential Diomande deal

On Monday, Joyce reported for The Times that Diomande is high on Liverpool’s list of transfer targets going into the summer as they seek a right-sided replacement for Mo Salah.

The RB Leipzig winger is valued at an eye-watering €100m (£86.3m) after an outstanding campaign in Germany, and it’s ‘been mooted’ that LFC could consider offering Elliott to the Bundesliga side in order to bring down the fee they’d need to pay for the Ivory Coast starlet.

(Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images)

The Red Bull-owned club had targeted the England under-21 international last year but were unable to match his valuation, a task which should theoretically be easier for them now that they’ll have Champions League football again next season.

Stefan Borson – former financial adviser to Manchester City – recently told Football Insider that Liverpool could be willing to accept a reduced fee of £25m for Elliott after his unsuccessful loan spell with Villa, which could also play into Leipzig’s hands if they retain an interest in him.

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Could an Elliott/Diomande ‘swap deal’ be viable?

Based on the figures quoted above, it could lower the ‘net’ outlay for Diomande to around £60m, which wouldn’t seem extravagant for a young winger who’s proven that he can be productive at a high level, with 13 goals and 10 assists for the Bundesliga outfit this term.

In addition to his decent output, the 19-year-old is the sort of explosive wide attacker who’d inject some much-needed dynamism into the Reds’ attack – his 90-minute average of 3.6 dribbles completed was by far the highest in the German top flight in 2025/26 (WhoScored).

Fabrizio Romano reported on Tuesday morning (via X) that Liverpool are ‘in talks’ with the teenager’s camp over a prospective swoop, although they face competition from Paris Saint-Germain, thus potentially giving the player a decision to make.

Ideally, Elliott would be given another proper chance to resurrect his Anfield career, although that doesn’t seem overly likely while Arne Slot is still in charge.

If it seems that the 23-year-old has no future on Merseyside and would be amenable to joining Leipzig, then maybe there could be scope for a player-plus-cash deal to be struck which’d see Diomande filling Salah’s place in the Reds’ starting XI.