Liverpool begin club-to-club talks to sign £87m star

The question Liverpool need to ask themselves is have Arne Slot’s side shown any kind of improvement across the campaign?

Liverpool lifted the Premier League title less than a year ago, and FSG clearly feel that Slot has credit in the bank. There have been mitigating circumstances, after all. But when does the line get drawn? When do Liverpool stop and question whether the 26-point drop-off speaks of an unbridgeable gap for the Dutch coach, widened and deepened by an incensed fanbase?

Still, if Liverpool can nail their summer transfer strategy, all may be well on Merseyside again. But with Mohamed Salah leaving, Liverpool need a new talisman to rival the likes of Alexander Isak.

Liverpool begin club-to-club talks for new forward

With top sources such as The Athletic’s David Ornstein pretty much confirming that Liverpool plan to commence the new season with Slot in charge, transfer plans will need to cater to his vision.

That didn’t work last summer, but Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes are regarded as two of the best in the business, and while replacing someone like Salah is an onerous task indeed, Yan Diomande might just be the perfect player to do it.

As per TEAMtalk, Diomande, 19, is Liverpool’s top transfer target as we head into the summer window, with the RB Leipzig winger emerging as one of the most exciting young forwards in the world.

Valued at £87m by his German employers, Diomande has the potential to become a superstar in a Liverpool shirt, someone who, perhaps, could bring a bit of Fernando Torres-like quality to Merseyside, as weird as that sounds.

Why Diomande could be Liverpool’s next Torres

Diomande is not really stylistically similar to Torres. The retired Spanish striker was nimble and fleet-footed, but very much a number nine, hailed by Steven Gerrard as “easily the best player I have ever played with”.

Diomande might not be a centre-forward – or Spanish, for that matter – but he is a special kind of entertainer, someone cut from similar cloth in that regard.

Torres joined Liverpool from Atletico Madrid for £20m in 2007, with Rafa Benitez viewing his younger countryman as the perfect tool to fire Liverpool to the Premier League title. It didn’t happen, but El Nino left his mark in the Premier League all right, with pace and power and potency, all wrapped into one.

That’s something that Diomande shares with the Premier League icon. The Ivory Coast star is more than just a winger, and what’s more, he even has some experience in Spain, joining Leipzig from Leganes, where he cut his teeth, less than a year ago.

Already a significant upgrade on an ageing and ailing Salah, the snappy winger would also mimic Torres in replacing superstars. Albeit, when Torres replaced the likes of Emile Heskey and Michael Owen, it was belatedly indeed.

Diomande is not averse to moving inward and firing his way forward and into the penalty area. His clinical finishing allows him to succeed in such situations. However, if and when Liverpool complete a deal, Isak and Ekitike would surely demand the berth in the centre – and understandably so.

As journalist Bence Bocsak put it: “Whatever it costs, he’s a superstar. Worth every penny.”

Diomande’s flashy and exciting style is exactly what Anfield’s supporters are craving. There is substance within that skillset too. In that, maybe Diomande is a bit like Torres, a young forward with the world at their feet, arriving in the Premier League and restoring Liverpool’s frontline to world-class heights.