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According to reports from France, Liverpool have taken a huge step forward in their pursuit of Yan Diomande and could now have a free run at signing the RB Leipzig winger.
For some time now, it appears to have been a straight shootout between the Reds and Paris Saint-Germain for the 19-year-old, whoâs been turning heads with his performances for Ivory Coast at the World Cup.
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The Merseysiders have seen an opening offer of âŹ100m (ÂŁ86m) rejected by the Bundesliga outfit, although Fabrizio Romano expects LFC to go back with an improved proposal in the near future, with the Red Bull-owned club potentially considering a deal if someone were to bid âŹ130m (ÂŁ112.2m).
Liverpool reach âagreementâ with Yan Diomande
French outlet Media Foot has reported that Liverpool have now âreached an agreementâ with Diomandeâs representatives âafter an initial round of observation and discussionsâ, with the next step being to try and tempt Leipzig with a sufficiently enticing offer.
By contrast, PSG are said to have âthrown in the towelâ after the wingerâs valuation increased further off the back of his World Cup performances, to the extent that it now sits outside of the European championsâ budget, and theyâve opted against partaking in a bidding war with the Reds.
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Liverpool now seem to be firmly in pole position for Diomande
Weâd take these reports with a pint of salt for now until such time that theyâre corroborated by top-tier sources closer to him, but if indeed Liverpool have agreed personal terms with Diomande and PSG have pulled out of the race, the odds are now firmly in favour of the Merseysiders.
Of course, it mustnât be forgotten that probably the biggest obstacle of all has yet to be overcome â coming up with an offer whichâd convince Leipzig to do business, with the Bundesliga side determined to hold onto the player and duly putting a prohibitive price tag on him.
We fully expect a second official bid to come from Anfield in the near future, although itâll likely be less than the German clubâs asking price, in the hope that they might compromise to some extent.
There could be a few more rounds of back-and-forth in Liverpoolâs pursuit of Diomande over the summer, but seemingly having PSG out of the way would take a lot of the pressure off Richard Hughes to rush into a megabucks offer for fear of being gazumped by the Parisians.
Thereâs still work to be done for this proposed transfer to come off, but the route certainly seems that bit clearer now that our main rivals for the player seem to have stepped aside.