Emile Heskey spots player Liverpool 'needs' as $118M transfer plea made

Liverpool could be looking to further bolster its attacking options when the summer arrives, with doubt over the long-term future of Mohamed Salah, who will turn 34

Emile Heskey has made his feelings clear(Image: Getty Images)

Former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey says Arne Slot's side should sign Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig to add some extra pace and quality to its attack.

Diomande only moved to Germany last summer from the Spanish side Leganes. Since then, he has shown real glimpses of his potential, scoring eight goals and providing six assists for Ole Werner's men.

In the summer, Diomande could be on the move again, with RB Leipzig said to value him at around $118 million (£87 million). Fellow Premier League teams Manchester United and Tottenham were both linked with moves for him heading into the January window.

"Someone like Diomande gives you that unpredictability and runs in behind and creates chances," Heskey told Ace Odds.

"The thing with Diomande is that you can put him up front as well. Defenders don't like when players are running behind all the time, and that is what he does because he is a winger.

"These are the things that I think wide forwards have lost a little bit. Generally, now, they don't want to get involved in the game; they want to wait in the box. But we need those players, especially after Luis Diaz left.

RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande continues to be linked a summer transfer(Image: Ronny HARTMANN / AFP via Getty Images)

"The defenders would have to take two steps back when playing against Diomande, which creates more room, and then other players can produce more."

Liverpool signed Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike from the Bundesliga last season. The German top flight is viewed as the closest comparison to the intensity of the English game, which can help with the transition across.

"I think it's all, first and foremost, always credit to the player because he has to do the work not only on the pitch, also in the gym," Arne Slot said on Wirtz's fitness and good form during a press conference today.

"Then as a manager, even if he is maybe physically struggling a little bit in the start, you need to keep on playing him because that's the only way players can improve.

"He is an example of that where I had many of them this season. So, I think he did not even improve that much on the ball because from the start he was special on the ball.

"Maybe now he has a better connection with his teammates because he played more and more together. That's also what you get if you play them more and more together.

"But off the ball I see the biggest improvement with him and with some others. That combination makes you ready for the Premier League, because the Premier League is about both. It's not only on the ball, it's also definitely off the ball."

Liverpool.com says: Diomande looks like a great talent but he is relatively unproven. To spend more than $100M on him would be a risk, but maybe that is just the going rate these days when Premier League clubs make moves in the market.