**Yan Diomande is Liverpool’s primary transfer target for the 2026 summer transfer window, and the Ivorian has spoken glowingly about Florian Wirtz.**
The Ivory Coast international has won the affection of Liverpool, PSG and Real Madrid, with the Reds the leading candidates to land his sought-after signature this year. Diomande has 16 goals and 13 assists for club and country in 2025-26.
Having starred in the Bundesliga over the last 12 months, it’s almost poetic that Diomande will face the German national team tonight in the second group stage game of the FIFA World Cup.
Diomande will face Liverpool gem, Florian Wirtz, and the 19-year-old has waxed lyrical about a player whose path he may follow with a £112m move to Anfield.
Diomande praises Wirtz amid chance of mimicking his move from Bundesliga to Anfield
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Speaking at a press conference to preview the game, Diomande said: _“It’s a dream. Representing your country is something huge._
_“Participating in the AFCON (Africa Cup of Nations) was already an important achievement for me, but being selected for a World Cup is another level._
_“This has been an amazing year for me. I’m grateful for everything that’s happening to me and I’m just going to continue to give my best on the pitch._
_“When you play in Germany, you quickly see that everything there is very structured. Discipline is very important, punctuality, intensity in training._
_“I learned a lot as a result, both on and off the pitch. Germany is a very strong team; they never give up and fight until the end. Add to that their individual quality._
_“That makes them very strong. Florian Wirtz, for example, is a very creative player who finds solutions in the final third, even in tight spaces. Players like that can change a game with a single action.”_
The pathway to Liverpool from the Bundesliga
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Liverpool signed Wirtz for £116m last season after 15 goals and 16 for RB Leipzig in the 2024/25 season. The German performed admirably in his debut season despite the instability at the club. Wirtz signed a five-year contract worth £200,000 per week, and Diomande would receive a similarly high initial salary if he made the move to Merseyside.
Liverpool are now closing in on a deal to sign Diomande, after having an initial bid for Diomande rejected. The 19-year-old could follow a similar pathway to Anfield from the Bundesliga.
There are many similarities in their journey, but the most similar is the incredibly high ceiling on their potential.
Signing them in back-to-back summer transfer windows would be quite something, and would go a long way to dispelling the myth that Liverpool don’t have pull in the market.