Liverpool’s Yan Diomande Transfer Saga Intensifies
Liverpool’s pursuit of Yan Diomande is turning into the transfer saga of their summer – and it is starting to grate on just about everyone involved.
The club’s owners, FSG, have been warned that prising the 19-year-old from RB Leipzig will take a fee that could eclipse even Liverpool’s own transfer record, with German voices now echoing what was first flagged a fortnight ago: Leipzig want a Bundesliga record or nothing at all.
A €100m bid swatted away
Liverpool’s opening offer – €100m (£87m, $116m) – barely caused a ripple in Leipzig’s offices. It was “instantly batted away” by a club who know exactly what they have on their hands and are in no rush to cash in.
Reports on Thursday suggested a second bid had already been knocked back. Not so. That offer has not yet landed. FSG are still wrestling with the numbers, still deciding how far they are prepared to go for the man they see as the long-term heir to Mohamed Salah, who left Anfield this summer after nine glittering years.
In the meantime, Leipzig’s stance has only hardened.
TEAMtalk reported two weeks ago that the German club would likely demand a fee higher than the £128m Barcelona paid Borussia Dortmund for Ousmane Dembele in 2017 if they are even to entertain a sale. Now fresh reporting in Germany backs that up and goes a step further: Leipzig might not sell at any price.
The logic is simple. Diomande is 19. His contract has no release clause. His trajectory points only one way.
TAG 24 summed up the mood at Cottaweg: “Red Bull holds the reins due to the contract, which does not contain a release clause. Only an even more outrageous sum would likely prompt them to consider a deal at Cottaweg – unless, of course, Demichelis vetoes the offer and sees Diomande as a key component for the upcoming season, which is probably the case.”
Demichelis, Schafer and a hardening line
The arrival of Martin Demichelis as Leipzig’s new head coach has added another layer of resistance. A meeting is planned between the Argentine and sporting director Marcel Schafer to thrash out the club’s wider squad plans, with Diomande’s future high on the agenda.
Demichelis is expected to push to keep the winger. If he does, Leipzig will have both the sporting argument and the contractual power to slam the door shut on Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and anyone else circling.
That is the backdrop as Liverpool edge towards a second bid. Andoni Iraola, newly installed at Anfield, is said to be all-in on Diomande, desperate to make him the centrepiece of his first major rebuild. But the longer the stand-off drags on, the more the strain is starting to show on the player’s side.
Diomande camp losing patience
Privately, Diomande is understood to be keen on the move to Merseyside. He has been waiting, quietly, for the clubs to find common ground. PSG, one of his other major suitors, have so far refused to go near what has been described as an “exorbitant transfer fee.”
Behind the scenes, Liverpool have been working the angles. Fabrizio Romano has highlighted the club’s efforts to win over the player and his entourage rather than simply throwing numbers at Leipzig.
“I think the player side of this deal is still a bit underrated in terms of the media,” Romano said. “It’s always the talk about the bid, the new bid, the next bid, but I believe that Liverpool are doing excellent work on the player side in order to get the green light and to have Diomande telling Leipzig, ‘let me go to Liverpool.’
“So that’s what they’re doing, and that’s why I believe there is confidence at the club to get it done.”
Liverpool’s charm offensive is nothing new. As far back as December, club officials were in almost daily contact with Diomande’s representatives, laying the groundwork for a summer move and trying to ensure that, when the moment came, Anfield would be his preferred destination.
Yet that long courtship has its downside. At some point, promises have to turn into action.
Journalist Lewis Steele has picked up on a growing sense of irritation from the winger’s camp.
“I think there’s a little bit of frustration on the player’s side from what I’ve heard that it’s maybe taking a little bit longer than some people may have anticipated,” he said. “I’m talking about his camp.
“Maybe they thought it was going to go a bit quicker, but now they’re sort of resigned to the fact it might drag on after the World Cup, but they accept it.
“But also, you never know. Liverpool could just pull their finger out, and it’d be done in the next day or two.”
That line captures the mood perfectly. Acceptance, but with a growing impatience. A feeling that Liverpool, if they truly want Diomande, need to prove it.
Klopp’s new role complicates everything
As if the negotiation was not complicated enough, another twist emerged this week: Jurgen Klopp is now a key figure on the Leipzig side of the Red Bull empire.
The former Liverpool manager, who has taken on the role of Red Bull’s head of global football, is reported to have an agreement with Schafer not to sell Diomande this summer. If that pact holds, Liverpool are effectively trying to talk their way past one of the architects of their own recent success.
For FSG and Iraola, that is an awkward reality. For Leipzig, it is another pillar supporting a no-sale stance.
Liverpool’s Plan B
Liverpool cannot afford to wait forever. Losing Salah has left a creative and goalscoring void that cannot be ignored, and the club are already exploring alternatives in case Leipzig simply refuse to play ball.
A Brighton star is among the next names on their shortlist, while Romano has also flagged Iraola’s strong “love” for a PSG player who could be available for around £78m (€90m, $102m) this summer.
Those options are real. They are being discussed. But they are not Diomande.
So the question hangs over Anfield: do Liverpool smash through their financial ceiling for a 19-year-old Leipzig do not want to sell, or do they walk away and risk watching a potential superstar blossom somewhere else?
