Rumor Mongering: Real Madrid Want To Hijack Diomande Deal

PHILADELPHIA - (lr) Yan Diomande of Ivory Coast celebrates scoring the 0-2 during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group E match between Curaçao and Ivory Coast at Philadelphia Stadium on June 25, 2026, in Philadelphia, United States. MAURICE VAN STEEN / ANP (Photo by ANP via Getty Images) | ANP via Getty Images

Despite having already signed a young, exciting winger in Victor Munoz, Liverpool have been strongly linked with another young, exciting winger in Yan Diomande. Liverpool’s initial approach–reportedly around €100 million including add-ons–was rejected by Leipzig.

The working assumption had been that it was a race between Liverpool and PSG, but according to the rumor mongers in Spain, Real Madrid have entered the picture.

Allegedly, newly reelected president Florentino Pérez wants to celebrate his victory by splashing the cash on a winger. That had long been assumed to be Bayern Munich star Michael Olise, but apparently the Spanish Giants haven’t ruled out Diomande as an alternative, should the Olise deal fall through.

There’s a lot of reasons to be skeptical of this, from the sources invovled to the fact that Real Madrid is just one of those clubs that gets linked to everyone. It could also be a tactic from the agents to get Liverpool to move more quickly, or any number of other factors.

As of now, all signs still point to Diomande being Liverpool’s top target and Liverpool leading the race for him. Of course that could change; there’s still a lot of transfer season ahead of us.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com