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PSG Gains Edge in Transfer Race for Yan Diomande
Paris Saint-Germain have not just nudged ahead of Liverpool in the race for Yan Diomande – they have all but planted their flag.
Within hours of reports emerging that the 19-year-old RB Leipzig winger views PSG as his next step, another blow landed on Merseyside. Maghnes Akliouche, long admired by Liverpool, is also said to have given the green light to a move to the French champions, with talks already underway with Monaco over the 24-year-old attacking midfielder.
For Liverpool, this is what it looks like when a transfer plan collides with a superclub in full stride.
Diomande turns towards Paris
The outline of the Diomande saga is stark. Liverpool were prepared to go big – a package close to €100 million for a teenager who has lit up Leipzig and the World Cup stage. Leipzig pushed back, holding out for something nearer €130m and working to tie him down even further, despite his contract already running until 2030 after arriving from Leganes last summer.
That resistance might soon be tested from a different direction.
First came the word from RMC Sport: PSG were ready to strike as soon as Diomande made clear he wanted Paris. Then came the heavyweight confirmation from The Athletic’s David Ornstein, reporting that the Ivory Coast international has chosen PSG as his preferred destination if he leaves Leipzig this summer.
Diomande, 19, is said to be fully sold on the project led by chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi and football advisor Luis Campos, and eager to work under Luis Enrique. He sees the French capital as the place to compete for trophies year in, year out – and, crucially, as the platform to chase a future Ballon d’Or.
That is the level of ambition Liverpool are up against.
Back in France, RMC added another key detail: a five-year contract between PSG and Diomande, negotiated via Roc Nation Sport, is already agreed in principle. The champions of Europe now move to the next phase – finding a fee with Leipzig.
The twist? PSG insist they will not “go crazy”. The club’s hierarchy have stuck to a new line for over a year now: pay the right price, not any price. German reports point to Leipzig demanding around €130m. PSG do not want to reach that figure.
Even so, they are now in control of the situation. Liverpool, for all their early intent, are watching from the outside.
Akliouche, another one slipping away
While Diomande dominates the headlines, Akliouche is quietly edging towards the Parc des Princes as well.
TEAMtalk report that PSG are already in talks with Monaco over the 24-year-old, another player heavily linked with Liverpool in recent months. A versatile attacking midfielder, Akliouche fits the profile of creativity and end product that many at Anfield felt would refresh their forward line.
Instead, he looks set to add to PSG’s growing stable of young, technically gifted attackers.
For Liverpool, that is two prime-age or elite-potential targets leaning decisively towards the same club. At the start of a window in which they need to retool their attack, the timing could hardly be worse.
Salah’s shadow and a shifting market
There is no disguising the reality: missing out on Diomande would be a major blow for Liverpool.
Mohamed Salah’s future still hangs over the club. Even if he stays in the short term, the forward line needs fresh legs, fresh goals, fresh threat. Diomande ticked every box – pace, one-on-one quality, end product, upside.
Instead, as things stand, he is PSG-bound.
The emotional undercurrent to all of this is sharpened by Jurgen Klopp’s recent words about Salah. Speaking to ESPN, the former Liverpool manager reflected on a relationship that once bristled with tension at times, but has since mellowed into genuine warmth.
“We are friends now,” Klopp said. He explained that during their working years he could never quite be his players’ best friend, not while making decisions they disliked, but that what remains now are “good memories” – the strongest thing in life, in his view. “Right now we share them and so we are friends and now he’s at the World Cup.”
Those memories are golden. The present, though, demands a plan for life after Salah. And the market is moving fast.
Alternatives and opportunities
Liverpool’s recruitment team are not short of names, only of certainties.
Rayan, the Bournemouth winger, is one of those under close watch. He started for Brazil in their 3-0 win over Scotland, stepping in for the injured Raphinha, and could keep his place against Japan in Houston as the World Cup round of 32 continues. His pace and directness have already turned heads in England, and his £130m release clause reportedly becomes active next January. Clubs could, of course, try to negotiate outside those terms, but any move will be expensive.
Then there is Said El Mala at Cologne. The 19-year-old wide man, once seemingly on his way to Brentford before turning the move down, now finds his club increasingly anxious about the lack of firm bids. Liverpool and Newcastle remain linked, and Cologne are said to want around £40m to cash in and reinvest.
El Mala’s numbers last season – 13 goals and five assists in 34 Bundesliga games – suggest a player ready for a bigger stage. For a club needing width, goals and resale value, the opportunity is obvious. The desperation in Cologne’s stance only sharpens it.
Another name doing the rounds is Felix Nmecha of Borussia Dortmund. The midfielder burst into the World Cup with a series of eye-catching displays for Germany, only to falter in a 2-1 defeat to Ecuador. His next outing, against Paraguay at Gillette Stadium, will be watched closely not just by Liverpool but by Manchester United, who have also been heavily linked.
Nmecha is a reminder of how volatile World Cup stock can be. One week a breakout star, the next a player battling to “restore his reputation” after a poor performance. The scouting departments will need to look beyond the noise.
Bruno, Barcola and the domino effect
Higher up the food chain, Newcastle are fighting to keep hold of Bruno Guimaraes. The Brazil midfielder, currently at the World Cup, has drawn interest from several elite clubs, Liverpool among them. Arsenal have already seen a £55m bid rejected, and Newcastle are now prepared to make him the highest-paid player in their history at £200,000 a week.
Even so, it is understood he can leave for £60m after Newcastle missed out on the Champions League. That clause places a clear number on one of the Premier League’s most influential midfielders. Whether Liverpool move for him is another matter entirely.
Closer to the Diomande saga is Bradley Barcola. Fabrizio Romano has repeatedly stressed Liverpool’s admiration for the PSG winger, going back to the summer of 2025 and continuing into their plans for 2026. With PSG accelerating for Diomande, the logic is obvious: one elite winger in, one potentially out.
Romano insists Barcola remains a “concrete option” for Liverpool. PSG have not yet sanctioned his departure, and many French sources insist he will stay. His information, though, is different: the situation is open, movement is happening around the player, and there is still a real chance Barcola leaves Paris this window.
If Diomande arrives at the Parc des Princes, the pressure on minutes in wide areas will only intensify. That is where Liverpool could pounce.
Spurs circle Gakpo as Liverpool watch
Elsewhere, another familiar name has re-entered the Premier League conversation. Former Tottenham full-back Alan Hutton has urged his old club to go hard for Cody Gakpo, arguing the Dutchman would solve a long-standing problem in Spurs’ wide areas.
Hutton pointed to injuries to the likes of Odobert, Kudus and Kulusevski and stressed that Tottenham need more goals and creativity from the flanks to feed Solanke and Richarlison. Gakpo, he argued, brings not only quality out wide but the ability to play through the middle, plus experience and a winning mentality.
For Liverpool, who already have Gakpo, the comments are a reminder of the value in their current squad – and of how quickly the market would move if any of their forwards became available.
Liverpool at a crossroads
Back in Paris, the picture is clear. PSG are serious about Diomande. The player wants the move. A five-year deal is in place. All that remains is agreement with Leipzig on a fee that satisfies the Bundesliga club without forcing PSG to abandon their “right price” mantra.
Liverpool, once willing to push towards €100m, now face a brutal choice. Do they try to blow PSG out of the water with a huge offer and hope Diomande reconsiders? Or do they accept that this particular race is lost and pivot decisively to the next target?
What they cannot afford, not in a summer like this, is to stand still while others move.
