Yan Diomande looks like the frontrunner to replace Mohamed Salah at Liverpool, but it’s a big ask for the 19-year-old.
Don’t get me wrong, Diomande looks absolutely top class. He trails only Lamine Yamal in take-ons completed across Europe’s top five leagues with 87.
Funnily enough, it’s £87 million RB Leipzig are looking for to let him leave this summer. Liverpool rank Diomande as a top-three target.
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And therein lies the problem, well, one of two problems I have with signing the phenomenal teenager to replace the Egyptian at the end of the season.
Yan Diomande is the risky choice to replace Mohamed Salah
The first and most obvious point for concern is the age. Diomande won’t turn 20 until the end of this year — experience matters.
Now, it must be said that he plays far beyond his years already. As I said, a truly elite prospect.
But the task facing him is to assume the role occupied by one of Liverpool’s greatest ever players who has made the position his own over the past decade.
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For a teenager, that is serious pressure. Diomande is thriving in a Leipzig setup designed to cater to the development of young talent, already on ten goals and six assists in 26 Bundesliga appearances.
Competing for a Premier League title is a different matter entirely, though.
Add to that the £87 million fee they want for their young star, and it feels like the perfect mixing pot for a spotlight too bright for a player still finding his feet in the game.
We saw it with Florian Wirtz at the start of this season, and you would have to imagine Diomande gets the same treatment if it’s not clicking from the start.
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Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes watching on during the Reds' Premier League match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (Credit: Getty Images/Robin Jones).
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For those reasons, I’m not sure this is the right move. If Liverpool are to pull the trigger, it will be a transfer that excites. Watching him tear up defenders this season has been a pleasure.
It’s just the circumstances he would be landing into, the void he would be asked to fill, that make me think a more experienced option is the better fit.
Someone like Michael Olise or Bradley Barcola fits perfectly in that regard, though neither look like coming to Anfield. We’ll see what Richard Hughes and co decide to do in the weeks to come.
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