Liverpool's Pursuit of Yan Diomande: A New Attacking Star

Liverpool’s search for a new attacking star is starting to circle around one name – but the picture is far from settled.

With Mohamed Salah gone and a flat 2025/26 campaign still stinging, Andoni Iraola’s first full summer at Anfield was always going to be busy. Wide areas, stripped of their long-time talisman, sit right at the top of the to-do list.

Diomande buys into the Anfield project

In Germany, Yan Diomande has forced his way to the front of Liverpool’s thinking.

The 19-year-old RB Leipzig winger is coming off a breakout Bundesliga season: 12 goals, 8 assists in 33 league games, the kind of output that drags a teenager out of the “prospect” bracket and plants him firmly in the “problem for defenders” category.

He has carried that form onto the international stage. For Ivory Coast at the World Cup, Diomande lit up his debut against Ecuador, adding another line to a rapidly growing résumé. It is no surprise that Liverpool are not alone. Paris Saint‑Germain, serial collectors of elite attacking talent, are firmly in the race.

Yet the mood music around the player is shifting.

Earlier in the week, reports suggested Liverpool were actively “pushing” to get a deal done, with Ivory Coast’s manager telling reporters he had heard the winger was heading to Anfield this summer. Now, Liverpool reporter James William has gone further, stating that Diomande is “now prioritising” a move to the Reds over other options.

On X, William said he understood Liverpool had “made progress” in their attempt to sign the Leipzig forward, adding that Diomande has been convinced by the project and is eager to slot into Iraola’s plans.

For a club trying to reshape its attack after the Salah era, that kind of buy‑in from a 19-year-old of this profile is exactly what they want to hear.

PSG lurking – and Barcola in the background

The chase, though, is not one‑way traffic to Merseyside.

Former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor believes PSG remain in pole position to land Diomande – and that their strength could end up handing Liverpool a different prize.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Agbonlahor underlined just why the teenager is attracting such aggressive interest. He pointed to Diomande’s 12 goals and 9 assists in the league for Leipzig last season and highlighted his age as a key driver of value. A 19-year-old with that end product, he argued, will always command a higher fee than a more established 24-year-old.

The numbers behind the highlights are striking. Over the season, Diomande racked up 118 successful dribbles – 50 more than any other player – and, in Agbonlahor’s eyes, made Piero Hincapié “look ordinary” on the big stage, twisting the defender “left, right and centre”.

That kind of dominance in one‑v‑one situations is exactly what top clubs pay a premium for. It is also why Agbonlahor expects PSG to push hardest.

“I think he goes to PSG because of the way they’re performing at the moment,” he said, before sketching out a scenario that would still suit Liverpool. If the French champions win the race for Diomande, he believes they would then be willing to let Bradley Barcola leave, clearing a path for the £80m-rated winger to move to Anfield.

From his perspective, PSG simply will not need that many wingers. Diomande would walk straight into their side, Agbonlahor argued, and looks more likely to deliver goals than Barcola, whom he described as a player who “likes to miss a lot of chances”.

One of two – but at what price?

The message from Agbonlahor is blunt: he expects PSG to take the 19-year-old, and Liverpool to end up with one of the two players rather than both. The teenager, in his view, is the one the French club will truly want.

He drew a parallel with Jadon Sancho’s move to Manchester United for £75m, a reminder of how brutally unforgiving the market can be. When a club pays that kind of fee for a young winger and it does not click, the risk becomes painfully clear.

Liverpool know that reality as well as anyone. This summer, they are trying to thread the needle between potential and certainty, between the explosive upside of a Diomande and the more established, if still erratic, threat of Barcola.

Diomande may be prioritising Anfield. PSG may yet turn his head. Barcola could become the consolation prize – or the smarter long-term fit.

For Iraola and Liverpool’s recruitment team, the question is no longer whether they will move for a winger. It is which gamble shapes the next era of their attack.