Liverpool's Search for Diomande Shifts Focus to Pulisic

Liverpool’s pursuit of Yan Diomande is slipping away, and with it their primary attacking target of the summer. But as the club recalibrates, one of Anfield’s greatest finishers has thrown a familiar name back into the frame: Christian Pulisic.

Diomande drifts towards Paris

Liverpool went hard for Diomande. An offer worth $113.9 million — $91.1m up front with $22.8m in add-ons — underlined just how much the 19-year-old RB Leipzig winger had been identified as the next big piece in their forward line.

It wasn’t enough.

The Ivory Coast international, currently at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, is understood to prefer a move to Paris Saint-Germain. Reports now suggest he has agreed a five-year deal with the European champions, leaving the final act to the clubs’ negotiators.

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has already opened direct talks with Leipzig and is confident a deal will be struck. The sense is of a transfer edging towards the inevitable.

Liverpool, though, cannot wait for a door that looks almost closed.

Plan B takes shape

The recruitment department at Anfield has not been caught cold. Four names have already been earmarked as alternatives, according to previous reporting from The Athletic: Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh, Cologne’s Said El Mala, Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo and West Ham’s Crysencio Summerville.

Different profiles, different stages of development, but all with the kind of upside Liverpool has chased in recent years.

Yet one former Liverpool striker is looking elsewhere.

Fowler makes the Pulisic case

Robbie Fowler, a man who knows a thing or two about what works in front of the Kop, believes the club should widen the search.

“Plenty of rumours about as to who's going to @LFC. One name I've not seen mentioned is Pulisic,” he wrote on X. “Good age, played in the Prem, exciting player, I'd take him, potentially a Salah type of pathway, thoughts?”

It’s a comparison that will catch the eye. Mohamed Salah arrived at Liverpool with Premier League scars from his Chelsea spell, rebuilt his reputation in Serie A, then exploded at Anfield. Pulisic’s story has familiar beats.

The American is currently leading the United States on home soil at the World Cup, playing two of three group games to help Mauricio Pochettino’s side top Group D and move into the knockouts. His profile, and his price, will not be shrinking this summer.

Proven pedigree, unfinished business

Now 27, Pulisic plays his club football for AC Milan in Serie A, where he has re-established himself as one of the division’s sharper attacking threats. Before that, he logged 98 Premier League appearances for Chelsea between 2019 and 2023, scoring 20 league goals.

The numbers from 2025/26 tell a story, but not the whole one: 10 goals and 4 assists. Diomande, by comparison, stands at 13 goals and 10 assists. On raw output, the Leipzig winger edges it. On experience at the elite level, Pulisic carries the stronger case.

This is not a new link either. As recently as February, Liverpool were reported to be among the Premier League clubs in contact with Pulisic’s camp over a potential return to England. His contract situation at Milan only sharpens the intrigue.

Contract tension at San Siro

Pulisic has just one year left on his Milan deal, though the Italian club hold an option to extend it by a further 12 months. According to TEAMtalk, the player is disappointed not to have been approached about a new contract that reflects his status as one of Serie A’s standout attackers.

That silence has prompted his entourage to sound out Premier League clubs about a possible move back to the English top flight. For Milan, a decision looms: trigger the option and risk a disgruntled star, or cash in while his value is high, especially if he delivers a strong World Cup.

For Liverpool, the equation is different but just as stark. With Diomande drifting towards Paris and a shortlist of emerging talents already on the table, do they pivot towards a ready-made, battle-tested attacker who knows the league, knows the pressure, and, in Fowler’s eyes, fits a pathway that has already transformed one modern great?

The market will not wait long for their answer.