Liverpool Targets Diomande and Eichhorn for Squad Revamp
Liverpool move fast to arm Iraola for life after Salah, Robertson and Konaté. The ink is barely dry on Andoni Iraola’s two‑year deal and the recruitment machine at Anfield is already in full sprint.
The club confirmed the Spaniard as Arne Slot’s successor on Thursday evening. By then, conversations about reshaping a squad that slipped to fifth in the Premier League were already advanced. Losing Andy Robertson, Mohamed Salah and Ibrahima Konaté on free transfers has left gaps that cannot be glossed over. The response from the hierarchy is clear: go younger, go aggressive, go big.
Diomande: the heir to Salah?
The headline pursuit is obvious. Liverpool are working on a marquee move to fill the void left by Salah, with talks opened with RB Leipzig over teenage winger Yan Diomande.
David Ornstein has reported that Liverpool are now in contact with the Bundesliga club about a deal for the Ivory Coast international. Leipzig do not want to sell. They are prepared to dig in and, if they do soften, are ready to demand around £112m for the 19‑year‑old after his breakout season.
That price reflects the scale of his impact. Diomande has just completed his first full senior campaign and finished it with 13 goals and 10 assists, numbers that have catapulted him into the top tier of European prospects. Liverpool are said to be ahead of Paris Saint‑Germain in the race, helped by their strong standing on the player’s side of the negotiations and a clear pathway into a front line that suddenly looks short of a superstar wide forward.
For a club that has long thrived on explosive, high‑output wingers, Diomande looks tailor‑made. The question is whether Liverpool are prepared to pay Leipzig’s premium to secure him now rather than watch the price climb again next summer.
Liverpool step up chase for Eichhorn
While Diomande would be a statement for the here and now, Liverpool are also pushing hard for a name built more on promise than profile: Kennet Eichhorn.
Hertha Berlin’s 16‑year‑old midfielder has become one of the most talked‑about teenagers in Germany. Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg reported on Thursday that Liverpool have held new talks in the last 48 hours as they intensify efforts to land the youngster.
Hertha’s failure to win promotion back to the Bundesliga has opened the door. Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund are both in the mix, with Eichhorn’s future one of the most intriguing subplots of the German summer window. At this stage, the Germany Under‑17 international is said to be open to all options, weighing up whether to stay in his home country or take a leap abroad.
Liverpool are trying to tilt that decision. The pitch is obvious: a club that has rebuilt itself on smart youth recruitment, a manager in Iraola who trusts energy and intensity, and a pathway that could take a 16‑year‑old from academy pitches to Anfield under the lights.
The 16‑year‑old drawing Toni Kroos comparisons
If Diomande is the explosive winger, Eichhorn is the deep‑lying conductor. Some inside German football view him as the more exciting long‑term prospect.
He does not turn 17 until next month, yet already has 19 senior appearances for Hertha. That level of exposure at 16 tells its own story. Only an ankle injury and a red‑card suspension late in the season stopped that total from climbing even higher.
Tall, composed and technically sharp, Eichhorn plays with a calm that jars with his age. Promoted to Hertha’s first team in recent months, he has handled the step up with a maturity that has caught the eye of scouts across Europe.
The list of admirers is a roll call of the elite: Liverpool, Manchester United, Paris Saint‑Germain, Real Madrid and Barcelona have all watched him closely. Hertha captain Fabian Reese has called him “an incredible, exceptional talent”, and in Germany he has already drawn comparisons with Toni Kroos. That is a heavy label for a teenager, but it underlines the scale of expectation around him.
Whether those giants all decide to enter the bidding this summer remains to be seen. For now, Liverpool are trying to move before the crowd.
Two tracks, one strategy. Diomande for the immediate jolt in attack, Eichhorn for the midfield of the next decade. If Liverpool can land even one of them, Iraola’s new era starts with a statement. If they somehow land both, the shape of Liverpool’s future changes in an instant.
