“I’m focused on the pitch.” As Mohamed Salah prepares to leave Liverpool, the Reds are eyeing a move for RB Leipzig’s 19-year-old wonderkid Yan Diomande. Read why the Ivorian sensation is the “creative spark” Arne Slot needs to lead a new era at Anfield.
Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah has announced he will be leaving this summer, which will rock the club to the core. The Egyptian King has been a key piece to their puzzle under both Jurgen Klopp and current head coach Arne Slot, helping them collect major honours.
The club now must find a replacement to fill the void that the 33-year-old will leave. While the Reds may not find an exact replacement in terms of his goals, they must track someone with the creative spark, and they could have that in the form RB Leipzig right winger Yan Diomande.
The Ivorian international currently at just 19 years of age, he’s already become one of the most exciting young talents in Germany, with 12 goals and 8 assists so far this season.
There is a feeling that this Saturday’s game against Freiburg could be his last, but Leipzig are doing everything in their power to keep hold of him by slapping a £80 million price tag. Despite that, his name is regularly mentioned when Slot’s side is linked with wide forwards.
🚨 Yan Diomande will cost £80M this summer if a club wants to sign him.
Chelsea and Liverpool have been keen but the 19-year-old is in no rush to leave RB Leipzig.
(Source: @TheAthleticFC) pic.twitter.com/0jvgpP0IqH
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) May 14, 2026
Reported by Goal.com, Diomande opened up about his future, where he claims that pressure doesn’t come from being linked with European giants such as Liverpool, but the motivation to keep on working hard.
He said, “I don’t really think about this kind of thing because I’m trying to be focused on the pitch and because my job is playing football so (his representatives) gonna take care of everything outside of the pitch. So this kind of things give me a lot of motivation to see a lot of clubs speaking about you and stuff like this, but I’m focused.”
The teenager has already shown his desire not only to play football but also to continue his development. In January 2025, he switched from America to the Spanish club CD Leganes, where he spent only half a year. Before moving to Spain, Chelsea were interested, though he turned them down in favour of greater opportunities.
In a new era for the club, Diomande could be the man to lead them from the front in their journey to return to the peak of European football.
This season has been difficult to endure for Kopites, but there is optimism that they can turn their fortunes around, with Leipzig’s sensation being a key man in achieving that dream.
Fits Liverpool recruitment approach
At just 19, the winger would fit the criteria that is required when signing their next players to move the club in the right direction. Out of the seven first-team signings the Reds made last summer, only one was over the age of 25, being third-choice goalkeeper, Freddie Woodman.
Prior to the Dutch head coach taking the role at the club, they had an aging squad, which meant a lot of money has been directed to specific players in the transfer window, and may explain why Andy Robertson, Alisson Becker and Salah have left the club.
Diomande has expressed extreme talent in just 12 months in the Bundesliga, and in the modern world of football, you have to pick up these talents as quickly as possible before the other big clubs pounce, as we saw last summer with Florian Wirtz.
With the World Cup on the horizon, it stands as a chance for the African winger to announce himself in front of the world, which would make a deal for him even harder for the Reds to complete.
They have a successful business with Leipzig in the past, signing Ibrahima Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai and Naby Keita from the club.Liverpool can’t take too many risks when it comes to transfers this summer, yet they may be forced into one by replacing one of the greatest players who has ever represented the club. Diomande has the chance to write his own chapter in Red, and even with the quoted transfer fee, he could be ideal in building Slot’s vision for the team.