Liverpool's search for a new wide-attacker, following the departure of Mohamed Salah, continues. The Reds' primary target appears to be Bradley Barcola, albeit they are currently being forced to play the waiting game, needing Paris Saint-Germain to lower their asking price.
Meantime, the European Champions are only willing to sell Barcola if they are able to bring in Yan Diomandé, whose preference is to move to the French capital. However, with talks between PSG and RB Leipzig seemingly only slowly progressing, could the Côte d'Ivoire international still end up in the Premier League?
Well, as reported by Graeme Bailey of Team Talk, Diomandé's representatives have "received fresh approaches" from three leading Premier League clubs, namely Liverpool as well as Manchester City and Arsenal. The teenager, who is reportedly valued at around £94 million by RB Leipzig, still has his heart set on a move to PSG, but the Reds remain hopeful that the situation could change. So, could he become just the second Ivorian to call Anfield home, after Kolo Touré?
Why Liverpool are so desperate to sign Yan Diomandé
Fair to say, Diomandé's rise has been rapid, unexpected and astronomical. Just two years ago, he was playing for DME Academy, a private athletic sports training academy in Florida, largely for aspiring athletes coming out of college. From there, he ended up at Leganés, making just ten La Liga appearances for los Pepineros, hence why everyone in Spain was surprised when RB Leipzig triggered his €20 million release clause. 12 months on, that has proved to be a stroke of genius by Red Bull.
During his one, and likely only, campaign in Saxony, Diomandé racked up 13 goals and ten assists in all competitions, averaging a goal involvement every 118 minutes. On top of this, he ranked highly for a wide variety of categories in the Bundesliga last season.
Yan Diomandé's Bundesliga 2025/26 statistics
Statistics | Yan Diomandé | Bundesliga rank |
|---|---|---|
Goals | 12 | 12th |
Successful dribbles | 118 | 1st |
Big chances created | 17 | 5th |
Key passes | 56 | 10th |
Average match rating | 7.72 | 6th |
Note: All statistics courtesy of SofaScore.
The successful dribbles number is what leaps off the page above all else. Not only did Diomandé record the most of any man in the Bundesliga, his tally of 118 was 50 more than the player second on that list, his team mate Antonio Nusa, as well as 53 more than third-place Michael Olise. Former Liverpool fans' favourites Luis Díaz came fourth, two behind Olise.
This underlines that Diomandé is one of the world's best dribblers, while he does have the end product to match, recording nine assists and creating 17 big chances; only Olise, David Raum, Julian Ryerson and Harry Kane racked up more across Germany's top division.
Thus, if anyone can fill Salah's enormous void in the Liverpool forward line, the 19 year old Ivorian is a pretty decent candidate, albeit he is more likely to end up in Paris than on Merseyside at this stage.
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