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The transfer saga surrounding Yan Diomande is rapidly becoming one of the most compelling stories of the summer window.
With Liverpool’s opening bid already rejected and Paris Saint-Germain preparing to throw their hat into the ring, RB Leipzig find themselves in an enviable position as Europe’s elite queue up for their teenage sensation.
According to BILD, Liverpool moved first, tabling a package worth €100 million for the 19-year-old Ivorian winger.
Leipzig’s response was swift and unequivocal.
The German club acknowledged the offer and moved on.
Sky broke the story of the rejected bid, and the message from the Red Bull Arena was clear: it will take considerably more than that to open a conversation.
The threshold, per BILD, sits comfortably above €120 million.
That figure is unlikely to deter the French champions.
BILD reports that PSG are poised to submit their own offer, with talks between the club and Diomande’s agency, Roc Nation Sports, having been ongoing for several weeks.
The arrival of that second bid would trigger exactly the bidding war Leipzig have been quietly engineering.
With no release clause in Diomande’s contract, which runs until 2030, all the leverage sits with the Bundesliga club.
Diomande himself has done little to dampen PSG’s enthusiasm.
Speaking to Telefoot, the winger acknowledged the appeal of a move to France, noting that adapting to French football would pose no great challenge.
When asked directly whether he would like to play for PSG, he replied without hesitation that he likes them a lot.
His father, he added, has always supported the Parisians.
Liverpool, meanwhile, retain significant advantages of their own.
Reports say that PSG currently lag behind the Reds when it comes to personal terms, with Andoni Iraola’s side prepared to offer a substantially stronger financial package to the player.
Diomande’s Ivory Coast head coach Emerse Fae, speaking from the United States ahead of their World Cup group stage campaign, reflected on the confusion surrounding his player’s future, noting that journalists in France had told him Diomande was about to sign for PSG, while those in America were insisting it was Liverpool.
At Leipzig, the issue was briefly pushed down the priority list.
The dismissal of Ole Werner and the subsequent appointment of Martin Demichelis as head coach consumed the club’s attention.
Now that managerial transition is settled, Diomande’s future moves back to the top of the agenda.
His salary is set to increase as a gesture of appreciation, though the club’s sporting management maintains its preference to keep him for at least one more season.
Whether that preference survives a bidding war between two of Europe’s wealthiest clubs remains to be seen.