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Yan Diomande to Liverpool: Was Anfield strung along from the start?
Yan Diomande to Liverpool was supposed to be the statement signing of the summer. For weeks, Anfield insiders were genuinely confident a deal for the RB Leipzig teenager was close. Hughes had made the 19-year-old Ivorian winger his number one priority to replace Mohamed Salah, the man who defined a generation at the club. Phone calls were made. Bids were lodged. Diomande recorded 13 goals and 10 assists in 36 appearances for Leipzig, so the hype was thoroughly earned. This wasn’t a punt; it was a calculated, sustained transfer pursuit.
Yan Diomande to Liverpool unravels as agent conduct is questioned
Then came the revelation that reframed everything. According to Lewis Steele via Anfield Index, Liverpool were indeed confident. Still, sources close to Diomande’s camp told a very different story, one where the agent kept Hughes’ office busy with daily contact while the player’s preferred destination was elsewhere entirely. Steele was blunt: Liverpool appeared to have been played.
The agent, it seems, ran a parallel track, keeping Richard Hughes engaged while PSG moved decisively in the background. RMC Sport confirmed a five-year contract agreement between Diomande and Paris Saint-Germain, knocking out Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich simultaneously, a brutal outcome.
Liverpool’s opening bid of €80m guaranteed with a further €20m in add-ons was knocked back by Leipzig, and Hughes reportedly explored a cash-plus-player structure to reduce the headline fee. Harvey Elliott, valued at around £25m, was mooted as part of a swap arrangement to bring the total cost down to approximately £61m. Leipzig held a genuine interest in Elliott, so the structure made sense on paper. It went nowhere.
PSG submitted their first formal offer in late June, with club presidents Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Oliver Mintzlaff accelerating talks to the point where a full agreement looked possible within 24 hours. Liverpool couldn’t compete with that kind of institutional momentum. Diomande himself publicly declared he expected to leave Leipzig, removing any ambiguity about where his head was at.
Yan Diomande to Liverpool off, Hughes pivots to plan B
Liverpool are already working through contingency options, with reports naming at least six alternative wide targets. Said El Mala of Cologne and Bundesliga prospect Bazoumana Toure both feature prominently. Bradley Barcola resurfaces as a credible option, particularly if PSG’s finances shift following the Diomande outlay. Andoni Iraola needs genuine width, and this window won’t stay open much longer.
Read: Good deal? Liverpool keeping tabs on 23-year-old Fulham man
What stings most for Liverpool isn’t the rejection. It’s the suggestion that the entire pursuit was used as leverage from day one. Hughes committed months of groundwork to Yan Diomande to Liverpool, only to find the other side had a different ending in mind all along.
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