Liverpool’s pursuit of Yan Diomande suffered a blow on Thursday as RB Leipzig rejected the Reds’ first offer for the Ivorian.
Although Liverpool reportedly signalled a willingness to spend €100m on Diomande, Leipzig are said to be holding out for closer to €120m or even €130m in order to sell him this summer.
While the 19-year-old looks like an exciting player, that is an awful lot to spend on someone who has played less than 60 senior matches.
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As a result, it has now been claimed that Liverpool have four alternatives to Diomande if they cannot agree a deal with Leipzig, with journalist David Ornstein now confirming that Said El Mala, Yankuba Minteh and Matis Fernandez-Pardo are being considered, along with long-term target Bradley Barcola.
El Mala is perhaps the most interesting of these young targets, having outscored Diomande in the Bundesliga last season. And in terms of a fee, Liverpool have already been told that Koln would accept less than €50m to sell the 19-year-old this summer.
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While Diomande caused a storm with his form for Leipzig in 2025/26, El Mala went much more under the radar. Nevertheless, he scored 13 league goals to his age-mate’s 12.
Diomande beat him comfortably on assists – eight to four – but El Mala is clearly a prodigious talent as well.
His performances for Koln impressed scouts in the Premier League, and on June 4th, German reporter Florian Plettenberg revealed that the teenager had turned down an offer to join Brentford.
“Said El Mala and his family have officially informed Brentford now that they do not want to join the club,” he reported on X.
“This comes despite Brentford’s improved offer of around €50m (€45m fixed plus €5m add-ons), which 1. FC Koln were prepared to accept.
“As always reported, El Mala never had an agreement with Brentford. El Mala’s future is now completely open again.”
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Given Leipzig’s outrageous demands for Diomande, perhaps Liverpool will see value in being able to sign El Mala for less than half the price of the Ivory Coast international.
The German may not have the burgeoning star power of his teenaged Bundesliga colleague, but he has already shown that he can outperform him, and in a worse team too.
If Liverpool decide to pivot it will be seen as a failure among some sections of the fanbase, but there is still plenty of work to be done elsewhere on the team this summer.
Maybe it would be wise to save a little money and not go overboard on Diomande when the cheaper alternatives are equally as potent.
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