How Yan Diomande Compares to Liverpool’s Three Other Mohamed Salah Replacement Targets

Summer plans are shaping up now that a hectic campaign is over for the Reds.

Yan Diomande has made a name for himself quickly. | Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Liverpool’s search for a Mohamed Salah replacement is one they have to get right. When it was time to replace Luis Suárez in 2014, the Reds made poor additions and it set them back years. Now, with the season over, things are taking shape and Yan Diomande is reported as the No. 1.

Diomande and Liverpool in the same sentence is nothing new. The 19-year-old RB Leipzig winger has been steadily linked with the club over several months, as well as Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.

But Diomande is now labeled by the Telegraph as the “top target” in Liverpool’s quest to move on from Salah, contracted to the club for just a matter of weeks after negotiating his exit a year early.

Other options have been considered, but the Anfield hierarchy want as similar characteristics as possible. Again, when Suárez was sold, Liverpool went for quantity over quality, asking Rickie Lambert to punch too far above his weight and rolling the dice on Mario Balotelli. Neither paid off.

Diomande is not going to be a cheap acquisition off the back of last summer’s world record spend in excess of $600 million. The Côte d’Ivoire national team winger has long been valued at €100 million ($116.4 million, £86.4 million) by Leipzig, which is now believed to be a release clause.

In a sense, it makes things more straightforward, although Diomande has, at least publicly, expressed hesitance at leaving Leipzig at all this year—he now has a debut World Cup to focus on.

Diomande is a dual goal, assist threat. | Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Leipzig have shown a willingness in the past to be flexible over release clauses, which ordinarily need to be paid up front and in full if triggered. The nature of a release clause means it can cut the selling club out of negotiations, as was the case when Paris Saint-Germain poached Neymar from Barcelona.

But, generally, if a club like Leipzig is going to be paid all that money—just on slightly different terms—a deal is still agreeable. Liverpool activated a release clause to sign Dominik Szoboszlai in 2023, but Barcelona conversely managed to structure a staggered deal when they bought Dani Olmo.

Leipzig can also go the other way, overvaluing a player and renegotiating his contract on the understanding they stay one more year and then be granted a more reasonable transfer.

That was what dictated Benjamin Šeško leaving in 2025—eventually for Manchester United—rather than 2024. There has been talk of a similar tactic with Diomande. But while Liverpool could probably secure a cheaper fee in 2027, it obviously doesn’t help them now.

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Diomande Compared to Salah, Alternative Replacements

Anthony Gordon is a stronger plug and play option. | Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Even a ‘poor’ season from Mohamed Salah is still good by most other standards, so it is clear that replacing the veteran’s input is no easy task.

Of the four most talked about options on the market, none managed more combined goals and assists than Diomande (13 goals, 10 assists) across the season. The young Ivorian marginally eclipsed Salah, although some might argue the Bundesliga is a kinder domestic competition, while Leipzig were not involved in European competition of any kind during the campaign.

Diomande stands to be most the most expensive, too. Anthony Gordon would be next, at around $101 million (£75 million), and there appears to be a resignation from Newcastle United that he will be sold after the club missed out on European qualification—manager Eddie Howe justified surprise omission this month because he was “looking at the future.”

Of everyone, 25-year-old Gordon is the most readymade option at the level Liverpool want. His Premier League output wasn’t great, but 10 Champions League goals—six in the league phase—broke a Newcastle record. Still a teenager, Diomande is obviously still developing. And while his ceiling could be the highest, that is far from a guarantee.

West Ham United captain Jarrod Bowen—one of his team’s few positives in a relegation season—also registered 23 goals and assists. His output was more evenly split than anyone being compared here, with 11 goals and 12 assists, most similar to Salah. Everyone else was skewed one way or the other. Bowen and Gordon are both proven in the Premier League specifically.

Bowen and Maghnes Akliouche, the Monaco talent the least known of the four main candidates, could command similar transfer fees in the region of $80 million (£60 million). Akliouche, selected by France for the 2026 World Cup, is more about assists than goals and therefore not necessarily as close a match to Salah’s style and profile.

Player	Club	2025–26 Starts (Sub)	2025–26 G/A	Age	Contract Expiry
Mohamed Salah	Liverpool	34 (7)	22	33	2027*
Yan Diomande	RB Leipzig	31 (5)	23	19	2030
Antony Gordon	Newcastle	36 (10)	22	25	2030
Jarrod Bowen	West Ham	42 (0)	23	29	2030
Maghnes Akliouche	Monaco	40 (3)	18	24	2028

*To be terminated 12 months early

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