Paul Joyce confirms Liverpool’s interest in £86m-rated forward | OneFootball

Liverpool Transfer News: Yan Diomande Emerges as Winger Priority After Salah Exit

Liverpool’s summer now has a sharper focus, and it begins out wide. Mohamed Salah’s departure has turned a long running succession question into an immediate recruitment priority, with RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande understood to be high on the club’s list.

As reported by Paul Joyce for The Times, Liverpool are assessing how best to rebuild an attack that fell well short of last season’s title winning standards. The numbers tell a blunt story. A 1-1 draw with Brentford ended a campaign in which Liverpool scored only 63 Premier League goals, their lowest league total for a decade.

Salah Exit Forces Recruitment Reset

Replacing Salah like for like is close to impossible. His Liverpool record, 257 goals and 120 assists in 442 appearances, defines an era. Yet Arne Slot’s challenge is not simply to find one player with similar output. It is to restore collective threat, width and end product.

“One of the reasons why everyone is talking about wingers is because Mo is leaving,” Slot said last week. “It makes complete sense to think about at least one.”

That admission matters. Liverpool’s wingers produced 79 Premier League goal contributions in 2024-25. This season, that figure collapsed to 32. Salah dropped from 29 goals and 18 assists to seven and seven. Cody Gakpo also dipped, while Federico Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha offered only flashes.

Photo: IMAGO

Diomande Profile Fits Liverpool Need

Diomande’s attraction is obvious. The 19-year-old scored 13 goals in 36 appearances for Leipzig and has quickly moved from promising prospect to high value target. Leipzig signed him from Leganes after triggering a €20million release clause, but his reported value has since surged towards €100million, around £86million.

Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes will almost certainly test whether that figure can be reduced. Harvey Elliott has been mentioned as a possible makeweight, with Leipzig long term admirers and able to offer regular football plus Champions League exposure.

Diomande’s Bundesliga numbers also fit what Liverpool lack. He led the league for take-ons ending in a goal, progressive carries over ten metres and chance creation after carrying the ball. For a side that often looked stale in possession, that directness carries obvious appeal.

Photo: IMAGO

Slot Must Restore Wide Partnerships

Slot’s own explanation points to more than simply signing a winger.

“It was not only the wingers, it is the combination between the winger and the full back,” Slot added. “Last season I think if you had to describe the style of play, I would describe it as it was very reliant on the winger-full back combinations.

“We have tried that this season again but there hasn’t been the end product that we had last season. That is not to say it is only about them. We all — me included — didn’t bring the same level that we brought last season.”

Those words underline the broader issue. Liverpool need goals, but they also need structure. Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak arrived with huge expectations, yet both endured difficult debut campaigns. Isak’s fitness problems, Wirtz’s missed chances and Hugo Ekitike’s achilles injury have deepened the need for attacking reinforcement.

Emotional Context Cannot Be Ignored

This season was shaped by more than tactics. Curtis Jones spoke powerfully about Diogo Jota’s death and the impact inside the squad.

“We lost one of our brothers — a big part of us,” Jones said. “He was a huge help every single day. He was unbelievable as a human being and was unbelievable as a player.

“In games like that he was always a lad that I thought if I give him the ball, he’s going to go and score at the end and bail us out when we’re in a little bit of trouble.”

That context matters. Liverpool’s attack has lost Salah, Jota and Luis Díaz from the group Slot inherited. Chiesa is expected to leave. Ekitike is injured. Suddenly, a pivotal summer feels unavoidable.

Our View – Anfield Index Analysis

From a Liverpool perspective, this report feels both exciting and sobering. Yan Diomande sounds exactly like the type of player supporters want to see linked with the club, young, explosive, technically brave and capable of carrying the ball into dangerous areas. After a season in which Liverpool too often dominated territory without creating enough high quality chances, that profile makes sense.

But the warning signs are clear. No single winger can replace Mohamed Salah. Liverpool spent years benefiting from one of the greatest attackers in Premier League history, and trying to solve that loss with one big signing would be naïve. The burden has to be spread across the front line, midfield and full backs.

Slot’s comment about winger and full back combinations is the most important part of the report. Liverpool’s attack looked at its best when wide players had rhythm, support and runners around them. If Diomande arrives, he needs a system that maximises him, not one that asks him to rescue broken patterns.

There is also a Harvey Elliott question. If he becomes part of a deal, supporters will understandably feel mixed. He has talent, but perhaps he now needs the regular football Liverpool cannot guarantee. Diomande would be a statement. The bigger statement, though, would be Liverpool accepting this attack needs genuine surgery.