Yesterday, news broke unexpectedly that Liverpool were close to signing Osasuna winger Victor Muñoz. Less than 24 hours later that deal has been completed, but everyone knows the Reds aren’t done signing attacking reinforcements—and everyone knows Yan Diomande is their top target.
Now things could be starting to move awfully quickly on that front, too. While Liverpool were announcing the capture of Muñoz, The Athletic’s David Ornstein was reporting that they were ready to pay as much as €100M to sign Diomande. In just about the time it took to read that sentence, news broke that Liverpool had in fact made such a bid.
The offer, believed to be €90M guaranteed plus €10M in add-ons, was in turn revealed to have been rejected almost immediately. That isn’t expected to be the end of it, though, with an improved second bid expected.
Based on how things have developed both with Diomande and Muñoz over the past 24 hours, we wouldn’t be entirely surprised if by the time you’ve read this an improved bid has been made—or been rejected, or Liverpool have moved on to a Plan B, or perhaps even fully completed the signing.
Diomande’s other main suitor this summer has been Paris Saint-Germain, but with three star wingers already on the books there in Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Désiré Doué, and Bradley Barcola there hardly seems a pressing need for the Parisians to sign another €100M winger. If they did, it would also almost certainly mean a departure of one of the trio already on their books.
If that were to happen, Liverpool are known to maintain an interest in Barcola. If Leipzig’s transfer demands prove too high for both Liverpool and PSG and Diomande stays at Leipzig, then Yankuba Minteh, Said El Mala, and Matias Fernandez-Pardo have all been reported as potential alternatives.
