Liverpool have been warned not to pay over the odds for Yan Diomande in their ongoing pursuit of the RB Leipzig winger.
The Reds have had an opening bid of €100m (£86.8m) for the 19-year-old knocked back by the Bundesliga side, but they are expected to go back to the table with an improved offer (Fabrizio Romano).
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His current club are said to be holding out for at least €120m (£104m), with The Athletic even citing an asking price of €130m (£112m). The message from Germany is quite clear – the Ivory Coast international is a hugely expensive commodity in the summer transfer window.
Bothroyd insists Diomande isn’t worth more than £100m
Speaking on Sky Sports News, Jay Bothroyd believes that Liverpool shouldn’t go much beyond their original offer in the race for Diomande, believing that a figure north of £100m would be excessive for someone who, just over a year ago, was playing for a Leganes team relegated from LaLiga.
The pundit said: “I’m not paying £112m for him. There’s no doubt about it, he’s a very good player, but £112m? That would describe you as one of the world’s best wingers; I’m not sure he is.
“If it is £86m, I think that’s a good valuation for Liverpool. I think that’s a fair valuation. Going above that, though, I can’t see that, and I don’t think it would be good value for money.
“I think they’ll probably look at this one as a replacement [for Mo Salah] because he can play on the right. He’s playing on the left for Ivory Coast, so that’s good for versatility.
“When you start spending that kind of money on a player, you have to be one of the best in the world in that position. I don’t think he’s one of the best in the world. He’s got a very high ceiling because he’s so young, but now, if Liverpool are spending that money, they have to be spending it on one of the best in the world.”
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Liverpool may need to go big on Diomande as Salah’s replacement
The nature of modern-day football is that players can command eye-watering valuations from a very young age, and we understand why Bothroyd has warned Liverpool not to overpay for Diomande off the back of just one season at Leipzig.
However, the 19-year-old has shown over the past few months – and is continuing to show at the World Cup – that he’s capable of providing the spark that the Reds’ attack missed so badly in the 2025/26 campaign, with the honourable exception of fellow teenager Rio Ngumoha.
The Ivory Coast winger has also proven that he can back up his exciting play with a quantitative output, scoring 13 goals and setting up another 10 in 36 appearances last term.
With Salah’s exit leaving a huge void to be filled on the right flank – unless Andoni Iraola offers Federico Chiesa a promotion to first-team stalwart – Liverpool may need to go big on a top-quality replacement for the Egyptian.
To that end, they’ll struggle to find a more suitable option than Diomande, who in theory should have several seasons to pay back whatever transfer see is spent on him.
FSG will have their price point at which they’ll walk away, but there’ll surely be another bid or two from Anfield in the coming weeks as they continue their pursuit of the 19-year-old.
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