Man Utd Battle PSG, Bayern Munich for €70 Million Antoine Semenyo Alternative—Report

Ruben Amorim has expressed a need for a player with these attributes.

Yan Diomande has impressed for RB Leipzig this season. / Inaki Esnaola/Getty Images

Manchester United’s quest for further attacking reinforcements has reportedly drawn them into the heated battle for RB Leipzig wonderkid Yan Diomande.

Ruben Amorim’s side were fleetingly linked with a move for Antoine Semenyo. This was largely billed as an interest of opportunity as much as anything else, with the Ghana international available for a snip at £65 million ($87.5 million) in January. Manchester City appear to have won the race for Semenyo’s signature, prompting United to turn their attentions elsewhere.

The perusal for a versatile wideman has drawn United towards Diomande, according to Sky Sports News. The 19-year-old Ivory Coast international has been one of the season’s surprise stars at the sharp end of an inconsistent RB Leipzig side, racking up a team-high six Bundesliga goals before jetting off to the Africa Cup of Nations.

New SI FC Newsletter Global Embed. Sign Up to Get Informed With SI FC. dark. FREE NEWSLETTER

The same report claims that Diomande is valued at between €60–70 million rather than the swollen €100 million figure being thrown around elsewhere. Either way, it would represent an almighty investment in a teenager with fewer than 30 senior club appearances to his name. Just six months ago, he was signed for €20 million.

United, however, are not the only European giant mulling over such a splash. Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are also thought to be “closely” tracking the development of a player who has emerged from utter obscurity over the last year.

---

Why Man Utd Would Want to Sign Yan Diomande

Yan Diomande was selected for Ivory Coast while the likes of Nicolas Pépé and Simon Adingra were overlooked. / Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto/Getty Images

RB Leipzig’s managing director for sport, Marcel Schäfer, captured Diomande’s qualities in a handful of words: “Young, hungry and high potential.”

The Abidjan-born forward is a product of the U.S. college soccer program, coming through at DME Academy in Florida. It wasn’t until March 2025 that Diomande, 18 at the time, made his senior professional debut for La Liga strugglers Leganés.

The versatile forward came on for just four minutes against Real Madrid last season and would muster a paltry 10 appearances for his relegation-bound former employers before Leipzig took a €20 million gamble.

However, during his 542 minutes of La Liga action, Diomande showed the wriggling dribbling quality which has blossomed during his short spell in the Bundesliga.

“My style is explosive, fast and physically strong,” he surmised in an interview with the German top flight. “Quick, agile and also a finisher. I know I am not yet a perfect finisher, but I am only 19. With time, it will come—and I will become a killer in front of goal.”

---

Yan Diomande’s Statistical Profile

Yan Diomande is one of Europe’s most prolific dribblers. / Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Statistic (Last 365 Days)	Per 90	Percentile Compared to Other Wingers
Non-Penalty Goals	0.50	98
Non-Penalty xG	0.29	73
Total Shots	2.1	45
Conversion Rate	24%	98
Assists	0.19	48
xA	0.13	16
Chances Created	1.8	56
Successful Dribbles	4.1	99
Dribble Success Rate	59%	99

Stats via FBref.

---

As much as end product is an ever-growing factor for Diomande, entertainment is never far from the proud flair player. “I like to say: I left the streets, but the streets did not leave me,” he reflected. “It is still part of me.”

Across regular starters in all of Europe’s top five leagues, only Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Manchester City trickster Jérémy Doku have averaged more successful take-ons than Diomande this season. The youngster beats his man 4.2 times per 90 minutes at a staggering success rate of 58%—which exceeds the ratio of Yamal or Doku.

Capable of lining up on either flank in Leipzig’s 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 system, one of the most promising early displays of Diomande’s talents came from a left wingback role against Villarreal for Leganés last season. Given Ruben Amorim’s previous demands for a player to offer a counterpoint for Amad Diallo at wingback for United, the links to Diomande are understandable.

Not that the teen is going to get swept away by the speculation.

“I don’t pay attention to rumours,” he sniffed earlier this year. “I focus on my work on the pitch. If you perform, rumours will always appear. I stay concentrated, and I have good support from my father and the club staff. So I focus only on football.”

---

READ THE LATEST TRANSFER NEWS AND RUMORS FROM WORLD SOCCER

feed