Liverpool's Pursuit of Yan Diomande Slips Away

Liverpool’s chase for Yan Diomande is slipping away, and one of the club’s greatest goalscorers has already put another name on the table.

Diomande drifts towards Paris

Liverpool went hard for Diomande. An offer worth $113.9 million in total — $91.1m up front and $22.8m in add-ons — underlined how badly the club wanted the 19-year-old RB Leipzig winger, currently shining for Ivory Coast at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

It wasn’t enough.

Leipzig rejected that first bid, and the landscape has shifted quickly. Reports now say Diomande has agreed a five-year deal with Paris Saint-Germain, with the French giants moving decisively to get ahead of the competition. PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has already opened direct talks with Leipzig and is said to be confident of closing the deal.

For Liverpool, Diomande was the priority wide target of the summer. Now he looks destined for the French capital instead of Anfield.

Liverpool’s shortlist – and Fowler’s curveball

Liverpool have not been caught cold. The club is understood to have drawn up a list of four alternatives: Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh, Cologne’s Said El Mala, Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo and West Ham’s Crysencio Summerville, according to previous reporting from The Athletic.

All are talented. All fit the profile of a club planning for the long term in wide areas.

But Robbie Fowler sees it differently.

The former Liverpool striker took to X to pitch a name that has barely featured in the current rumour cycle.

“Plenty of rumours about as to who's going to @LFC. One name I've not seen mentioned is Pulisic,” Fowler wrote. “Good age, played in the Prem, exciting player, I'd take him, potentially a Salah type of pathway, thoughts?”

In one post, Fowler cut through the scatter of names and pointed straight at a proven international who already knows the Premier League.

Pulisic’s profile: proven and restless

Christian Pulisic is in the thick of a World Cup on home soil with the United States, having played in two of three group games to help Mauricio Pochettino’s side top Group D and reach the knockouts. On the international stage, his status is established. For club and country, he carries responsibility.

At AC Milan, the 27-year-old has rebuilt his reputation after a mixed spell at Chelsea. He has just one year left on his current deal, although Milan hold an option to extend by another 12 months. That clause gives the Serie A club leverage, but it also opens a window: sell now, or commit properly.

According to TEAMtalk, Pulisic is disappointed that Milan have not yet approached him over a new contract that reflects his standing as one of the league’s most dangerous attackers. The silence has prompted his camp to explore a return to England, with Liverpool among the Premier League clubs reported in February to have made contact with his entourage.

The numbers tell part of the story. In the 2025/26 campaign, Pulisic produced 10 goals and 4 assists. Diomande, by comparison, returned 13 goals and 10 assists. The younger man brings explosive output and upside; the older brings experience, versatility and a body of work at the highest level.

Pulisic’s Premier League record remains significant: 98 appearances and 20 goals for Chelsea between 2019 and 2023. He knows the pace, the physicality, the scrutiny. There would be no adaptation period to English football itself, only to a new system and a new dressing room.

A familiar pathway?

Fowler’s reference to “a Salah type of pathway” is not accidental. Mohamed Salah arrived at Liverpool not as a global icon but as a player reborn after a mixed first spell in England. Italy had reshaped him; Liverpool unleashed him.

Pulisic, too, has used Serie A to restart his career. He is not Salah, and his numbers do not match Diomande’s, but the idea is clear: a wide forward in his prime, sharpened in Italy, returning to England with a point to prove.

For Liverpool’s recruitment team, Diomande’s probable move to PSG forces a decision. Do they double down on the emerging talents already on their list, or do they listen to one of the club’s most prolific former strikers and test Milan’s resolve over a player who is both available and unsettled?

If Pulisic lights up this World Cup on home soil, that question will only get louder.