Whilst speaking to reporters, RB Leipzig attacker Yan Diomande neither played down nor encouraged a summer transfer, despite links to Liverpool FC and other top European clubs.
The 19-year-old stressed that his representatives will take care of everything off the pitch while he continues to focus on what’s on the pitch:
“I don’t think about this kind of thing because I’m trying to be focused on the pitch and because my job is playing football, so [his representatives] gonna take care of everything outside of the pitch.”
“This kind of things give me a lot of motivation to see a lot of clubs speaking about you and stuff like this, but I’m focused.”
“It’s really easy when you have a good team around you. You just have to work and they’re gonna take care of everything, because the only thing I can control is playing football.”
“The World Cup is next and after that you never know what can happen.”
The Ivorian winger was also complimentary of Leipzig’s role in bringing him to Germany, and their support off the pitch:
︀︀“My contract here is until 2030, so I have four more years, What’s going to happen afterwards? I don’t know. I am a Leipzig player. ︀︀”
“I will never forget this opportunity. It’s not only about playing football, but the club helped me a lot off the pitch. The media only sees me on the pitch, but the club helped me a lot with my family and my mom. The only thing I can do for them is to give everything on the pitch and this is what I’m trying to do every day.”
“Nobody knew me before and €20 million is a lot. It was a big risk for them and I thank them for that. And like I said today, we are in a good way and it’s not over.”
Well… it really boils down to whether Liverpool are prepared to pay close to the €100m Leipzig are reportedly demanding for a player who has only a full season at Leipzig and 10 games at Leganes in La Liga the season prior. Whilst I would love to see him at Liverpool, another season at Leipzig really isn’t a bad idea for the player. It is also worth noting that chatter about Diomande amongst the Liverpool journalists seems to have cooled, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola the hot topic lately.
