David Ornstein has reported that Liverpool have contacted RB Leipzig regarding a potential move for Yan Diomande and are in the ‘srongest position’ to sign the teenage winger.
The Reds and Paris Saint-Germain have seemingly been locked in a battle to win the transfer race for the 19-year-old, who’s understood to have signalled his approval for joining either of those two clubs.
French media reported comments attributed to the youngster on Wednesday in which he’s claimed to have said that he’s ‘loved’ PSG since he was ‘little’ and that his father supported them, although that certainly doesn’t mean the Merseysiders can be dismissed from the race.
In fact, jut before 4pm on Thursday afternoon, a joint-report by Ornstein and Seb Stafford-Bloor for The Athletic outlined that Liverpool have made contract with Leipzig as they accelerate their pursuit of Diomande, with the Reds said to be ‘in the strongest position with the player over a potential deal at present’.
PSG are continuing with their own ‘strong interest’ in the Ivory Coast international, although that’s said to be ‘not current as advanced’ as the Merseysiders.
However, the Bundesliga club have maintained that the winger isn’t for sale unless an offer of at least £112.5m is tabled, and ‘there may be a reluctance’ at Anfield to invest such a seismic fee on one player after last summer’s unprecedented £446m spending spree.
Furthermore, Diomande doesn’t have a release clause in his contract at Leipzig, which runs to 2030.
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With Ornstein being one of the most trusted sources on transfer news, this seems to be the clearest indication yet that Liverpool are serious about trying to sign the Ivorian forward, but the finances involved could be a problem.
The Reds spent more than £100m each on Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak last summer, but neither enjoyed a particularly successful first season at Anfield, and therefore there might be a reluctance to sanction another nine-figure deal for a single player.
What FSG might consider, if Leipzig are amenable to the idea, is the inclusion of a current member of the Liverpool squad as part of the package to try and bring down the sum of money paid to the Bundesliga outfit, who’d benefit from getting a new player and a healthy financial top-up.
Diomande certainly won’t come cheap, but this is one prospective transaction where the LFC hierarchy might decide that the potential rewards outweigh the risks.
German football expert Stafford-Bloor wrote that the 19-year-old could become ‘one of those players who poses a threat any time he touches the ball’; while James Pearce claimed that signing him would help the Merseysiders to ‘address a glaring weakness’ in their team, having been ‘dogged by a lack of pace and threat in wide areas’ during the 2025/26 season (The Athletic).
With Champions League income set to pour into the Anfield coffers once more next term, Liverpool might be sufficiently emboldened to at least give Leipzig something to consider in the form of a trnasfer offer for the coveted winger.
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