Liverpool Target Yan Diomande as Mohamed Salah Successor

Liverpool are not just in the race for Yan Diomande. They are trying to run PSG off the road.

The Premier League club have locked on to the RB Leipzig and Ivory Coast winger as their chosen successor to Mohamed Salah, and they are backing that judgement with hard cash and a clear sporting plan. At 19, Diomande is already being spoken about as one of the most devastating one-v-one wide forwards in the game. Anyone who watched Ivory Coast’s World Cup opener against Ecuador will know why.

Up against Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie in that first half, Diomande didn’t simply beat his man. He dismantled him. Pace, balance, the courage to keep demanding the ball – it was the performance of a winger who plays as if the pitch belongs to him.

Liverpool have been moving in the background for some time. David Ornstein has already reported that club-to-club talks with Leipzig are underway. The German side would rather build around Diomande than cash in, but the numbers on the table are brutal: a valuation in the region of €130m (£112m). That is the level at which they will at least have to listen.

PSG are in the frame, as they always are when a generational wide talent emerges. But this is not a typical Parisian sweep of the market. On Tuesday, reports indicated that Diomande’s preference is Liverpool, drawn by the prospect of playing under Andoni Iraola at Anfield. For a player of his profile, the idea of being the next great right-sided force in front of the Kop carries its own weight.

Financially, Liverpool are pushing harder. Fabrizio Romano has already described the offer on the table as “important money”, and on his latest YouTube update he outlined why the Premier League side currently sit in front.

“The battle is on between Liverpool and PSG,” he said, before making it clear that the Merseysiders are not just edging this on fee alone. Liverpool are prepared to offer Diomande a bigger contract package than PSG. In a market where elite clubs usually move within the same financial band, that is a statement of intent.

PSG’s problem is not just Liverpool’s aggression. It is their own squad.

The French champions simply do not have a clear lane for Diomande unless Bradley Barcola is sold. Internally, they are not pushing Barcola towards the exit. They are waiting. Waiting to see if a bid lands that is too good to ignore, waiting to understand whether they can reshape the attack without tearing up a player they still believe in.

Only a significant offer for Barcola changes that equation. If the right proposal arrives, PSG’s path to Diomande opens up. If it doesn’t, they remain stuck between protecting a current asset and gambling on a future star.

For now, that hesitation plays straight into Liverpool’s hands.

Behind the scenes, the Anfield hierarchy are driving this hard, fully aware of PSG’s interest and the structural issues in Paris. Romano is clear that PSG remain “very keen” on Diomande, but they are offering less – both in terms of the player’s contract and, crucially, in flexibility. Liverpool can drop him straight into a defined role. PSG must first move a piece off the board.

Leipzig will ultimately be swayed by numbers. Diomande’s camp will not. For a 19-year-old winger ready to step onto the biggest stage, the choice may come down to something simpler: lead the next attacking era at Anfield, or wait for space to clear in Paris.