Yan Diomande wasn't right for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp transfer warning proves why

Yan Diomande completed a £120m move to Real Madrid after snubbing Liverpool earlier in the transfer window

It has been a curious couple of years for Liverpool when it comes to managing expectations since Jurgen Klopp stepped down as manager in the summer of 2024. After a trophy-laden nine years under the German, many anticipated a drop-off following his departure having seen similar struggles at Manchester United and Arsenal post Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.

With Arne Slot named as Klopp’s successor, the Reds fanbase could be forgiven for expecting a transitional campaign in 2023/24. Instead, they won the Premier League at a canter.

Consequently, expectations were sky-high in the summer of 2025 and only enhanced by a £450m spending spree from the reigning champions as Liverpool twice broke their transfer record.

But rather than being stronger than ever, the Reds badly floundered as they finished fifth in the table.

Limping across the finish line after a season that went from bad to worse on the pitch, they narrowly secured Champions League qualification on the final day of the season. But that was only because England were granted one of the two European Performance Spots awarded to the two associations with the highest UEFA coefficient points.

With Slot losing his job as a result of such struggles, there is another new man in the Anfield dugout in Andoni Iraola. And, understandably, this time another transitional campaign is expected.

Having won two and lost two of their pre-season friendlies so far, throwing away two-goal leads in both defeats, Iraola’s Reds are very much an early work in progress.

The Spaniard is already without Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni to long-term injury, while Liverpool waved off Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate on free transfers earlier this summer.

The Reds have at least signed Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo to bolster their defensive options, and brought in Victor Munoz from Osasuna. But it is clear that more recruitment is required to strengthen Iraola’s squad.

Enhancing Liverpool’s attack remains the priority, with the Reds remaining in talks with Paris Saint-Germain over a move for Bradley Barcola. In a dream transfer window, the France international would not only sign but also not be the only new addition at Anfield in the forthcoming weeks.

Liverpool have already had to concede defeat on at least one transfer target though, after Yan Diomande signed for Real Madrid in a deal worth up to £120m earlier this month.

The Reds had seemingly led the chase for the Ivorian earlier this summer and were willing to pay £86m to land his signature. Such a fee ultimately fell short of RB Leipzig’s demands.

But before Liverpool could return with an improved offer, it emerged that Diomande had decided he favoured a move to Paris Saint-Germain over Anfield.

The Athletic reported that he came to such a decision because it was felt that the Reds would be in transition over the coming season, and he instead wanted to help PSG try and win a third straight Champions League title and even challenge for the Ballon d’Or.

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PSG ultimately withdrew from the race to sign Diomande at the end of July following Real Madrid’s own emergence, having been reluctant to meet the forward’s salary demands and RB Leipzig’s asking price.

By then, Liverpool were long out of the conversation and switched their attention elsewhere as the Reds instead stepped up their interest in Barcola.

Having held preliminary talks with the France international’s representatives, they were given encouraging signs from the player’s camp that he was open to a move to Anfield. And that is despite the possibility of a transitional campaign looming.

It is perhaps at this point worth reminding ourselves of one of Klopp’s most memorable quotes from his early time in charge of Liverpool as the Reds faced up to the likely possibility of missing out on Champions League football.

“If I would speak to a player now and he would tell me: ‘if you were playing in the Champions League next year I would be really interested’, I would put the phone down from my side,” he said in April 2016. “I am not interested.

“I always tell players if when you are 35 or 36 and look back on your career and you think about the one year when you didn’t play Champions League then you are really a poor boy.

“There are so many things you can do and reach if you go together with the team. You can qualify for the Champions League, play Champions League, maybe win it or whatever.

“It is a much more satisfying thing than all the rest. That is what I would say. It is pushing the train, not jumping on the running train. That is what we need here.

“If somebody says: ‘no, you don’t play Champions League next year’ then goodbye and thank you, have fun next year wherever you will be.

“We will find players or we have players already that will go our way. That is not my way, that is the normal way for a club not playing in the Champions League.”

Pushing the train rather than jumping on the running train was a belief he would repeat more than once in the forthcoming years as Klopp’s Liverpool side went on to win every major honour.

"This is a very, very special club," Klopp said ahead of his departure in the summer of 2024. "I didn't make them believe. I reminded them that it helps when you believe. That's what I think. Everybody was ready to push the train and that's what we did for eight-and-a-half years."

That attitude is something the Reds now need to rediscover. They are not starting from as far back as when the German first took over, but it is hard to decipher where exactly they fall in the Premier League pecking order as things stand.

Defending champions Arsenal are rightful title favourites, but there has been so much change around the majority of the English top-flight, with fellow ‘Big Six’ clubs Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur all boasting new permanent head coaches.

Predictions for the campaign ahead are starting to come in, with the Reds not even being tipped for a top four finish in some quarters. Iraola will be keen to prove such doubters wrong.

Diomande snubbed Liverpool, opting to forgo a potentially transitional campaign in order to jump aboard a running train elsewhere. But while missing out on the Ivorian was a blow, perhaps he was not quite right for the Reds after all. Hopefully, Barcola will be.

After a dismal season under Slot, Liverpool need to get their train going once again. If they are to get back to where they want to be, they need players who are willing to push.

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