Liverpool have identified RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande as a possible replacement for Mohamed Salah, with the 19-year-old emerging as a name to watch as the forward prepares to leave at the end of the 2025-26 season.
Salah is set to depart having become Liverpool’s most prolific Premier League scorer and the third-highest scorer in the club’s history, a run that included helping them win a second Premier League title last season. The Egyptian also swept the individual awards in 2024/25, taking the Golden Boot, Playmaker Award and PFA Players’ Player of the Year prize. He has won the Golden Boot four times and the PFA award three times, and he tied Thierry Henry’s record for the most open-play assists in a Premier League season with 18.
Diomande’s numbers explain why Liverpool are looking early. He has recorded 16 goal involvements in 27 Bundesliga matches this season and averages 3.3 dribbles per game, making him one of the more productive young wide players on the market. Liverpool and Arsenal are both interested in signing him, and Champions League qualification is expected to be a deciding factor in the chase.
That race tightened after Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over Sporting Lisbon yesterday evening confirmed that a fifth-placed Premier League finish will be enough to reach the Champions League for the 2026-27 season. Liverpool are still to play Manchester United and Everton away, and they also have Aston Villa, Chelsea and Brentford left on the schedule, leaving their final league position unresolved for now.
The money may also matter. The report says Liverpool believe more than the often quoted €100m could be secured for the sale of the Leipzig wonderkid, a figure that would underline how quickly the club is planning for the end of the Salah era. For Liverpool, the search is no longer theoretical; it is already underway.
