Liverpool have two of Europe’s top dribblers – and eye another in Diomande | OneFootball

The player perhaps most vulnerable should Liverpool sign Yan Diomande is actually rated ahead of the RB Leipzig star among Europe’s top 10 dribblers…

Diomande is set to be the subject of a ‘crazy battle’ this summer, though Liverpool continue to be the club most heavily linked with the RB Leipzig teenager, even if the Reds are not currently his ‘dream club’.

Diomande is making his name as a versatile winger, proving to be one of the best dribblers on the continent.

Indeed, our friends at Gradient Sports grade Diomande as the best dribbler in Germany right now and in the top six in Europe – but still below two Liverpool stars.

Across a vast range of metrics, the expert analysts at Gradient grade every player out of 100, measuring execution and outcome to offer the most insightful and accurate view of individual performance.

Here are the top 10 dribblers among wingers or wide attacking midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues, including a pair already at Anfield…

10) Jean-Matteo Bahoya (Eintracht Frankfurt) – 82.7

Bahoya was the first player last season to break the 37km/h barrier in the Bundesliga – one of the traits that has seen the 20-year-old recently linked with Arsenal.

9) Abde Ezzalzouli (Real Betis) – 84.2

Roma were interested in Ezzalzouli as a replacement for the wideman at the top of this list, while Palace are also said to have been sniffing this season in the Moroccan who joined Betis from Barca in 2023 for £7million. Barca retained buy-back options for the last two summers but chose not to use them on a player once described by Xavi as ‘extraordinary’.

8) Jean-Luc Dompe (Hamburg) – 84.2

The 30-year-old has completed 74% of his dribbles for HSV. Which is far more impressive than the fact that Dompe was recently caught driving under the influence of alcohol, before then leaving the police station on an e-scooter, prompting another case against him.

7) Francisco Conceicao (Juventus) – 85

Juve had to spend big – around £36million – to sign the Portugal winger permanently from Porto after a year on loan in which he scored seven goals and offered six assists in all competitions. This term, only five players in Serie A have a higher ratio of dribbles in which they have performed above expectation but Conceiçao has completed 10 or more than any of them.

6) Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig) – 85.3

In the top five leagues, only four players (Jeremy Doku, Lamine Yamal, Vinicius Jr, Victor Munoz) have attempted more dribbles than Diomande, but the Leipzig teenager has a higher completion rate than any of them. Indeed, only Dompe and Harry Kane have a higher ratio in the Bundesliga but Diomande has attempted more than triple the number of both.

5) Florian Wirtz (Liverpool) – 86.8

Wirtz isn’t in the top 30 for dribbles attempted but the only Premier League player to have completed a higher ratio of dribbles above expected than the German’s 57.9% is…

4) Cody Gakpo (Liverpool) – 87

One of the players most at risk from Diomande’s possible arrival, Gakpo has copped more grief than most from Liverpool fans this season, primarily for his decisions in the final third. But, more often than not, the Dutchman has got himself into those positions with the highest ratio of dribbles completed of all regular wingers, attacking midfielders and forwards.

3) Marco Palestra (Cagliari) – 87

Palestra is on loan from Atalanta at Cagliari, where he has played on the right of a 3-5-2. The 20-year-old’s form is set to earn him a first senior call-up to the Italy squad for the World Cup qualification play-offs.

2) Julio Enciso (Strasbourg) – 90.6

Enciso joined Strasbourg in the summer from Brighton on a four-year contract but he’ll be at Chelsea in no time if he keeps up the form that bumped Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele into second in Ligue 1.

1) Alexis Saelemaekers – (AC Milan) 90.6

Bologna might be kicking themselves now for failing to sign Saelemaekers for less than £8million when they had the chance at the end of a season-long loan in 2023-24. The Belgian then spent a year on loan at Roma before coming back to finally establish himself with the Rossoneri, earning himself a new five-year contract. Saelemaekers has completed the second highest number of dribbles in Serie A but the highest number of dribbles above expectation.