£85m Yan Diomande to Liverpool deal gets extraordinary green light

£85m Yan Diomande to Liverpool deal gets extraordinary green light

Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes and head coach Arne Slot are going back to the drawing board.

The Premier League champions have got no chance of winning any silverware this season - fighting it out just for a place in the Champions League placings.

Their disappointment comes on the back of spending £450m in last summer’s transfer window.

But those adjustments have brought no uplift in fortune - with new signings like Alexander Isak, Jeremie Frimpong, Giovanni Leoni and now Hugo Ekitike all cursed by injury.

The Anfield side will need to draw up plans for next season - including fortifying the wings with Mohamed Salah and Federico Chiesa set to leave.

The injury to Ekitike could take up to a year to heal - and his absence means Arne Slot is once again short of attackers.

Liverpool watching Yan Diomande

Adding a versatile and dangerous forward would go some way towards addressing Liverpool’s current problems.

There simply isn’t enough one-v-one pace and quality out wide - and that is a deficiency decision-makers on Merseyside will be seeking to address.

One solution would be to add Yan Diomande, 19, on a deal from RB Leipzig. The young Ivorian has been in imperious form during his first Bundesliga season - signing for only £18m from Leganes last summer.

The Red Bulls have got the winger signed up on a contract until 2030 - putting them in total control of his transfer destiny.

Paul Joyce gives Yan Diomande transfer green light

Liverpool have long been linked with a move for the Ivory Coast international while Red Bull are reported to be seeking €100m in any transfer deal.

Fans can now get excited about the prospect of signing Diomande as he’s been name-dropped by one of the most reliable Liverpool reporters out there ahead of a scheduled summer move.

Paul Joyce in the Times claims Liverpool are “assessing” a deal for Diomande - a cast-iron guarantee that the African emerging superstar is on the Reds’ transfer radar.

“There was plenty of work to do before the complicating factor of Ekitike’s injury and Liverpool are assessing options, including RB Leipzig’s teenage winger Yan Diomande, who is said to be valued by the German club at about £85million,” the report reads.

Diomande can play either side of the attack - and has been a good source of goals and assists during this breakout German league campaign. Among the named targets for the Reds this summer Diomande is now popping up as the most “gettable”.

Time for Richard Hughes to pick up the phone and get this deal done.