Yan Diomande is believed to be the subject of strong interest from Chelsea and Arsenalplaceholder image
Yan Diomande is believed to be the subject of strong interest from Chelsea and Arsenal | Getty Images
It will take a lot to replace Mohamed Salah, so Liverpool should go all out and sign the best winger in Europe.
Liverpool didn’t hang about last summer. They set about Europe signing a collection of the continent’s finest young players.
So far, it hasn’t quite paid off for the Reds although the blossoming partnership between Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike is something to get excited about. The midfield is also well set and Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong will both come back next season better equipped to cope with the demands of playing in front of an expectant Anfield crowd.
How do Liverpool replace Salah?
After a quiet winter window that saw the headline signing of Jeremy Jacquet added to the youthful contingent at the club, the summer could be another where the purse strings are loosened.
Diomande has been hailed as the next Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, but for £87m through his release clause, why not increase the budget by a million or two and sign the real thing. Whenever there is talk about Europe’s best players, one name is regularly missed - Kharatskhelia. He was key to Napoli winning their first league title since the days of Maradona and without him Paris Saint Germain wouldn’t have won the Champions League. He is an elite level difference maker.
The Georgia legend is still only 25 and yet it feels like he has been around for years. Theoretically, he is yet to reach his peak. It might sound outrageous, however, given the impact of Ekitike, Liverpool no longer need Alexander Isak and he could be a useful makeweight in getting a player who would be a better fit for the club and who would add the perfect balance to Wirtz’s playmaking skills.
What has Slot said about Kvaratskhelia?
When Liverpool faced PSG last season, Slot was asked about potential interest in “Kvaradona”, explaining just how highly he rates the mercurial winger, via the club’s official website: “Probably you don’t come from England because in England people say we almost buy every player that there is in the world, so this where people like him (points at reporter) make their money!
“If you got to England, you see Sky Sports. You see the whole day we are interested in almost every player in the world. It’s a bit exaggerated. But I cannot talk about if we were interested, yes or no.”
While Slot couldn’t comment on the Reds’ reported interest, he did have time to praise the 24-year-old winger: “What I can tell you is that he is a great player,” the Dutchman added. He was in (Luciano) Spalletti’s team from Napoli, which I loved to watch when they were dominating the league in Italy and doing really well in Europe. I think they even faced Liverpool in that season (2022/23).
“So, he’s a great player and Paris Saint-Germain have many of them, but he is definitely one of them.”
Wirtz, Ekitike and Kvaratskhelia would be the sort of forward line that would be the envy of Europe.
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