Diomande Emerges as Top Salah Replacement Target as Liverpool Battle Newcastle for Sporting Striker

Liverpool are preparing to move for RB Leipzig's Yan Diomande as they hunt for a successor to Mohamed Salah, with the winger firmly established among the club's three leading candidates for the role, according to Sky Germany's Florian Plettenberg.

The Anfield outfit confirmed this week that Salah will depart after nine seasons at the club when the campaign concludes. The early announcement gives supporters the chance to celebrate the Egyptian's remarkable legacy before his exit becomes official.

The Merseyside club have been readying contingency plans for some time, with longstanding speculation linking the winger to lucrative Saudi Arabia offers.

Bayern Munich's Michael Olise had dominated transfer chat lately, but Sport Bild's Christian Falk has poured cold water on any Liverpool hopes. The German outlet's reporter claims Bayern have deemed the winger "unsellable," with no possibility of a summer move materialising regardless of the fee offered.

Falk explained: "Bayern declares Olise unsellable! No Chance for Real and Fiorentino Perez. No Chance for Liverpool for their search for a Salah successor. I have talked with Bayern's Head of Sport Max Eberl. He told me that they wouldn't even consider it if an offer came in. He's a Bayern Munich player and has all the opportunities here that top players could wish for. Bayern wants to shape the future with him. Eberl also confirmed to me that Olise has no release clause in his contract."

Bayern's honorary president Uli Hoeness added his own dig at Liverpool's predicament, suggesting the Bavarians have no intention of strengthening their rivals. Speaking at an AI festival on Thursday, Hoeness remarked: "If that's true… I don't believe it is, but Liverpool spent 500 million this year and are having a very bad season. So we won't be contributing to them playing better next year. We play this game for our fans. We have 430,000 members, we have many millions of fans around the world, and it does them little good if we have 200 million in the bank and play worse football every Saturday because of it."

Diomande represents a more realistic target, though RB Leipzig's asking price of €100 million for the 19-year-old Ivorian could prove prohibitive. Plettenberg confirmed the teenager's status in Liverpool's thinking via social media: "Confirmed once again that Yan #Diomande is among the top three preferred successors to Mo Salah at Liverpool. #LFC Various talks are ongoing behind the scenes regarding several candidates. RB Leipzig are demanding up to €100 million for 19 y/o Diomande. Therefore, a move to FC Bayern is currently still unrealistic."

Meanwhile, Liverpool's search for attacking reinforcements has extended to the striker market, with reports suggesting they're locked in a fierce battle with Newcastle United for Sporting CP's Luis Suarez. Portuguese outlet Correio da Manha claims the two clubs are "fighting tooth and nail" for the forward's signature this summer.

Sporting have inserted an €80 million release clause in Suarez's contract, though speculation suggests they might entertain bids closer to €60 million.