Liverpool Pursue RB Leipzig Star Diomande in €100m Battle
Liverpool have stepped up their pursuit of RB Leipzig sensation Diomande, with what are being described as “very concrete talks” already underway between club officials and the forward’s representatives.
The Premier League side have not yet opened formal negotiations with Leipzig, but that stage is expected to come into view soon if the dialogue with the player’s camp continues to progress.
A €100m battle for Leipzig’s rising star
Any deal will be brutally expensive. Diomande is tied to Leipzig until 2030, and Sky reports that the Bundesliga club are already exploring a contract extension with his camp. Sitting third in the Bundesliga and on track for Champions League football, Leipzig know exactly what they have: a 21-year-old driving their season who will not be allowed to leave on the cheap.
The message from Saxony is clear. Diomande will cost more than €100 million.
That sort of fee would launch him into elite company. Only four players have ever left the Bundesliga for around that figure or higher: Kai Havertz (€100m, Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea, 2020), Florian Wirtz (€125m, Leverkusen to Liverpool, 2025), Jude Bellingham (€127m, Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid) and Ousmane Dembélé (€148m, Dortmund to Barcelona in 2017). Diomande would become the fifth to smash the €100m barrier.
It would also mark a staggering rise in value. Just last year, Leipzig picked him up from CD Leganés for €20m. Since then, he has erupted into one of the league’s standout young attackers, with 13 goals and eight assists in 32 appearances this season.
His form has carried over to the international stage. He made his Ivory Coast debut in October and could line up against Germany at this summer’s World Cup in the group phase.
Liverpool, PSG and a childhood dream
Performances like that do not go unnoticed. Several European giants are circling, but Liverpool are currently seen as front-runners, with Paris Saint-Germain also reported to have held recent discussions with his entourage.
Liverpool, though, have a card to play that money cannot buy: emotion. Diomande has already nailed his colours to the mast.
“I’m a huge Liverpool fan. My father dreams of seeing me play at Anfield one day. That’s my dream too – and I want to make it come true,” he said in a TikTok video in January.
For a club preparing for life after Mohamed Salah, that kind of statement matters. Liverpool have also been linked with another Ivorian in the Bundesliga, TSG Hoffenheim’s Bazoumana Toure, viewed as a potential long-term successor to Salah on the right. Bayern Munich, never shy in the market, are credited with an interest in both Toure and Diomande, adding another layer of tension to the summer ahead.
Champions League race shaping the market
All of this plays out against a crucial backdrop: Liverpool’s chase for Champions League qualification. Fifth place in the Premier League – where they currently sit – will be enough to secure a spot in next season’s competition.
Their grip on that position tightened over the weekend. Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester United opened the door, and Liverpool walked through it with a 2-1 win over Everton in the Merseyside derby. With five games left, the Reds hold a seven-point cushion over Chelsea.
That potential Champions League revenue, and the lure of Europe’s top stage, could prove decisive when Diomande and his advisors weigh up their options.
Salah’s looming exit and a new era
Amid the transfer plotting, the club has been wrestling with turbulence off the pitch. Respected journalist David Ornstein told The Athletic FC podcast that Klopp is expected to remain in charge even if Liverpool somehow miss out on Champions League football. The Dutchman, contracted until 2027, has faced mounting scrutiny after a stuttering campaign.
Tensions boiled over in December when he clashed publicly with Salah on the touchline. The rift did not last long, but the bigger blow came later. At the end of March, Salah confirmed he will walk away a year before his deal expires.
“Unfortunately, the day has now come. This is the first part of my farewell. I will leave Liverpool at the end of the season,” the Egyptian announced.
That statement changed everything. Liverpool now move into a summer where they must replace a modern club icon, fend off Europe’s richest sides and convince one of the Bundesliga’s brightest young forwards to turn a childhood dream into reality.
