Journalist: Liverpool ‘optimistic’ of fending off big-name suitors to land ‘number one’ target
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ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAYFabrizio Romano claimed on Tuesday that the Merseysiders appear to have the upper hand on the Champions League winners for the 19-year-old at present, and another transfer reporter has talked up our chances of snapping up the Ivory Coast international.Liverpool ‘optimistic’ of winning Diomande transfer raceSpeaking on the latest Market Madness podcast for GiveMeSport, Ben Jacobs outlined that Liverpool are hopeful of fending off PSG for Diomande’s signature, although his asking price seems to be rising steadily with each passing day.The journalist said: “The asking price is now above €100m [£86.3m]. “As soon as Diomande says he’s either staying or going, Leipzig will either settle his future and there’ll be no move this summer, or at the opposite extreme, they’ll realise the player wants to go and then the overall package will likely come down a little bit.”(Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images)Jacobs added: “PSG also like Diomande, and were he to go to PSG, you have an eventuality where maybe it becomes more likely that Bradley Barcola becomes available.
He’s not really getting game-time on the left due to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and Desire Doue seems to be starting all the big games too, so maybe Liverpool could pivot to Barcola.“Barcola is very high in Liverpool’s thinking as well, but Diomande is ultimately their number one choice. They’ve made progress on the player side, so they’re relatively optimistic within Liverpool that Diomande would like to join, even though the player did an interview only a few weeks ago where he spoke of his love for PSG.
It’s Liverpool v PSG for Diomande for now.”Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustLiverpool must throw everything at a move for DiomandeThe winger’s presence at the World Cup (Ivory Coast play their first match against Ecuador on Sunday night) could hinder Liverpool’s plans to try and secure a quick transfer, but Richard Hughes must continue to push as hard as he can on his side to get it done.Mo Salah’s exit has made the addition of a top-class right winger an urgent priority this summer, and even though Diomande would come at a high cost, he seems the best realistic option available to the Reds, with seemingly no prospect of persuading Bayern Munich to sell Michael Olise.(Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)The 19-year-old would give us a dynamic outlet on the right flank whose propensity for taking on opponents would whip the Anfield crowd into a frenzy, and a return of 13 goals and 10 assists in the most recent campaign shows that there’s productivity to accompany the excitement.The Ivorian would seemingly be quite happy to join either Liverpool or PSG, so it could come down to which club makes the more enticing proposal to him and who makes the more lucrative offer to Leipzig, who’ll be rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of a frantic bidding war for the winger.The Reds will almost certainly have to pay a premium for Diomande, but the alternative is missing out on a top-class option in a priority position and then being left to scramble for a Plan B with a lot less time to get a deal done.You can view Jacobs’ update on Diomande below (from 42:50), via @GiveMeSport on X: @OliviaBuzaglo & @JacobsBen bring you a special World Cup preview edition of Market Madness 🌍⚽️ Joining us: 🇧🇷 @Tim_Vickery on Brazil, Argentina & South American stars to watch, plus 🇺🇸 @tombogert inside the USMNT camp.