Much of Liverpool’s summer was spent watching Yann Diomande pull off one perfect game after another at the 2026 World Cup, including against Arsenal’s Piero Hincapie.
Of course, they weren’t watching for no reason either. The Reds were keen to sign the RB Leipzig winger and although his bid was rejected, he looked destined for Anfield.
The bad news for the Premier League giants is that they are not the only ones keeping an eye on the Ivorian game, with Paris Saint-Germain snatching pole position to sign Diomand, sending the Reds back to square one.
This leaves Liverpool scrambling for a replacement and without the sudden urge to watch Ivory Coast’s World Cup campaign.
Liverpool begin contract talks for £103m star player
So what’s next for Liverpool? They still need a winger to replace Mohamed Salah on the right, but that is unlikely to be Diomande.
As we speak, Michael Edwards will be frantically typing into a data machine, hoping to spit out players who are just waiting to come alive and transform Anfield’s front line, as Salah once did.
Names such as Saeed El Mara and Yankuba Minte have also been mentioned. They certainly tick the boxes of being direct and quick, but they don’t necessarily result in a final product. In fact, even without Diomande, the Reds may be forced to spend an exorbitant amount of money to fix their biggest problem.
Liverpool could sign five wingers to replace Yann Diomande
For the Reds, it’s back to square one…
According to TEAMtalk, Liverpool have opened talks with Bradley Barcola’s camp and have been informed that the PSG winger is expected to leave the French club for a valuation of €120 million (approximately £130 million).
However, PSG tells a different story. As reported by David Ornstein, their stance is that Barcora is not for sale, with an asking price of over £116m.
This is a big problem for Liverpool, who will need to spend at least £100m to sign the 23-year-old if he is allowed to leave PSG in the coming months.
How can Barcola become Iraora’s new Krupi?
It’s easy to see why Barcola is on Liverpool’s shortlist next to Diomande. The Frenchman is a direct and quick winger who is also capable of producing the final product.
He would also be a great opponent for Andoni Iraola. Andoni Iraola will reintroduce the sound of heavy metal football to Anfield next season, with a new winger set to beat the beat of Anfield’s intensity.
In terms of style, Iraola will be getting a Liverpool version of Eli Junior Crupi, who played in his first season in the Premier League as a teenager last season.
25/26 | croup | Stagger |
|---|---|---|
minutes | 1,683 | 1,750 |
the goal | 13 | 11 |
assist | 0 | 1 |
dribbling success | 15 | 36 |
An opportunity has arisen | twenty two | 38 |
An interesting comparison between Kroupi and Barcola is their output. The Bournemouth star operates primarily as a forward, sometimes dropping deep to win the ball, while Barcola is a winger, but both are dominant goalscorers rather than creators.
If you look at the profiles of the replacement wide men Liverpool currently have at their disposal, the vast majority are exactly the opposite.
Rio Ngmoja is a challenging artist but has yet to prove his ability to score goals instinctively. Victor Muñoz is a similar type, and Kodi Gakpo is also a goalscorer, but he has also proven to be too one-dimensional in finding goals.
Barcola falls somewhere in between. Like Crupi, he was a man who rarely created goals for his teammates last season, instead being asked to score from wide and in front of goal.
PSG’s asking price is high, but the figure suggests Barcola has every chance in the world of handing Iraola the next Crupi in the process, instead of Salah, who will eventually thrive in front of goal as an inside forward.
