Liverpool are willing to bid up to £86m for Yan Diomande of RB Leipzig - but the Bundesliga club are holding out for over £100m
Yan Diomande during the World Cup game between Ivory Coast and Germany
Yan Diomande during the World Cup game between Ivory Coast and Germany(Image: Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Yan Diomande would be the idea signing Liverpool this summer transfer window, according to Emile Heskey.
And the ex-Reds striker believes the £100m-rated Diomande would give the forward options a new dimension next season as his former club continue to weigh up their next move.
Liverpool made it clear last week they are open to a proposal worth up to £86m for the RB Leipzig winger, who is currently at the World Cup with the Ivory Coast.
However, the Bundesliga club are holding out for closer to £112m and the talks remain ongoing behind the scenes with Paris Saint-Germain also interested in Diomande.
Heskey, who scored 60 goals for the Reds between 2000 and 2004, likened the 19-year-olds style to that of former wingers Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.
And he believes Diomande would be the ideal solution this window.
"He's a very, very attractive player," Heskey told Liverpool.com. "We've been missing that."We were so blessed on the wings - we had Mo Salah and Sadio Mane for many years.
"Then Mane left and Luis Diaz came, and Diaz not only gave you what he gave you on the wing, he went up front as well and gave you something different.
"Since Diaz, we haven't really had that winger who can do that, and Diomande looks like he could be it."
Diomande is expected to be in action when Ivory Coast meet Curacao at the World Cup on Thursday evening.
Speaking ahead of his country's second Group E clash, against Germany, the Ivorian sidestepped questions over his future but did express his admiration for potential Liverpool team-mate Florian Wirtz.
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."