Liverpool's winger rebuild is being shaped by the need to plan for Mohamed Salah's exit, and Anthony Gordon is now being framed as the most attainable of the club's leading options. Yan Diomande remains the headline target, while Bradley Barcola stays in the mix if Liverpool miss on the first choice.

Why Gordon is the practical option

The case for Gordon starts with the numbers and the price. He has 17 goals and 5 assists across all competitions this season, and Newcastle are demanding £75 million. That is not cheap, but it is a very different kind of chase from the one Liverpool face for Diomande.

Gordon also looks like the cleanest Premier League fit in the group. Liverpool are not trying to buy a project for the future here, they are trying to replace wide threat quickly, and Gordon has the kind of top-flight output that makes the move easier to sell internally.

Arne Slot has already made the broader logic plain. "One of the reasons why everyone is talking about wingers is because Mo is leaving," he said. "It makes complete sense to think about [signing] at least one."

Why Diomande remains the priority

Diomande is the player Liverpool seem to want most. Fabrizio Romano said: "Let me start by telling you that Yan Diomande is absolutely in the shortlist, on top of their shortlist at Paris Saint-Germain and at Liverpool." He also said: "So, Diomande and Barcola, Barcola and Diomande, these are the two main names for Liverpool."

The valuation is where the deal gets awkward. RB Leipzig value Diomande at €100 million, while other reporting in the brief puts Liverpool's offer at €120 million. Either way, this is the premium end of the market, and PSG are in the picture too.

His output explains why Liverpool are pushing. Diomande has 23 goal involvements across all competitions this season, and his 7.73 Bundesliga rating in 2025 is stronger than the other winger options in the brief. Barcola's 7.2 Ligue 1 rating keeps him relevant, but Diomande is the higher-ceiling name.

The quiet twist is that Liverpool are not building this around one answer. They are weighing Gordon as the attainable route, Diomande as the preferred talent, and Barcola as the elite fallback. That is a sensible shortlist for a club replacing Salah, even if the price tags are starting to do the talking.

Samuel Martínez is also part of the wider picture. Fabrizio Romano says Liverpool have agreed a deal for the 17-year-old Colombian attacking midfielder, with visa and medical steps still to complete before he signs a five-year contract in 2027. That is a separate move, but it shows Liverpool are already planning across age groups while they sort out the senior winger chase.

For now, Gordon looks like the easiest of the three to land, Diomande looks like the hardest to ignore, and Liverpool still have a decision to make on where value ends and ambition starts.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 6 outlets. How we work →