According to reports from Germany, Liverpool are likely to face further frustration in their ongoing pursuit of Yan Diomande.
The Reds have reportedly reached an ‘agreement’ on personal terms with the agents of the RB Leipzig winger, and chief rivals Paris Saint-Germain are said to have pulled out of the race for him, which’d appear to leave LFC in a quite favourable position.
However, perhaps the biggest obstacle of all is yet to be overcome – convincing his club to sell, with our first offer of €100m (£86.8m) being knocked back. Fabrizio Romano claimed in recent days that FSG will try again with an improved proposal, and fresh details have now come to light in that regard.
As reported by Sport Bild (via Bulinews), Leipzig have received signals that Liverpool are prepared to submit a second offer to the tune of €100m (£86.2m) up front plus €20m (£17.3m) in add-ons, with Diomande’s agents putting on increasing pressure to push for a move this summer.
However, that proposed bid is likely to be turned down by the Bundesliga side, who are determined to delay a transfer in order to see how high his valuation might climb while he’s starring at the World Cup.
It’s claimed that the teenager could sign a new four-year contract at the Red Bull Arena on much higher wages and stay for one more season before then departing, with club chiefs prepared to push their wage structure as far as it can go in order to tie him down.
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With not even an overall £103.5m package seemingly being enough to convince Leipzig to sell Diomande, it’s starting to become clear just how high Liverpool will likely need to go if they’re to procure their top transfer target for this summer.
The Bundesliga club are said to ‘privately’ be bracing themselves for the player to leave in the next two months (Lewis Steele), but there seems an understandable determination on their part to hold out for as long as possible, and for as high a fee as they can muster.
This is where FSG need to make a massive call. Do they go beyond the £100m mark for the winger and commit to a high-stakes transfer which’d blow a hole in their summer budget, or do they walk away in search of better value, but knowing that their efforts to sign their top target have been wasted?
Liverpool have an enormous void to fill in their team after the exit of Mo Salah, and Diomande is one of the few wingers who seems capable of doing so in the long-term, hence why the Reds may be willing to push the boat out for him in a way that they wouldn’t with most other targets.
We can expect another few rounds of tug-of-war with Leipzig before this pursuit is ultimately resolved one way or another.
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