Liverpool are starting club-to-club talks to sign the £87m star

The question Liverpool must ask themselves is whether Arne Slot's side have shown any form of improvement this campaign?

Liverpool lifted the Premier League title less than a year ago, and FSG clearly feel Slot owes the bank. There were mitigating circumstances, after all. But when is the line drawn? When will Liverpool stop and ask if dropping 26 points speaks to the unbridgeable void of the Dutch coach, recounted and deepened by angry fans?

However, if Liverpool can nail down their summer transfer strategy, all could be well on Merseyside once again. But with the departure of Mohamed Salah, Liverpool need a new talisman to compete with the likes of Alexander Isak.

Liverpool are starting club-to-club talks for a new striker

With top sources such as David Ornstein of The Athletic very much confirming that Liverpool plan to start the new season with Slot in charge, the transfer plans will have to meet his vision.

That didn't work last summer, but Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes are considered two of the best in the business, and while replacing someone like Salah is a tough job indeed, Yan Diomande could be the perfect player to do it.

According to TEAMtalk, Diomande, 19, is Liverpool's transfer target as we head into the summer window, with the RB Leipzig midfielder emerging as one of the world's most exciting young players.

Valued at £87m by his German employers, Diomande has the potential to be a huge star in a Liverpool shirt, someone who, perhaps, could bring a Fernando Torres-like quality to Merseyside, as strange as that sounds.

Why Diomande could be Liverpool's next Torres

Diomande is not at all similar in style to Torres. The retired Spanish striker was stubborn and fast-footed, but at number nine, hailed by Steven Gerrard as “the best player I ever played with”.

Diomande may not be a great striker – or a Spaniard, for that matter – but he is a special kind of entertainer, someone who cuts the same cloth in that regard.

Torres joined Liverpool from Atletico Madrid for £20m in 2007, with Rafa Benitez eyeing his young compatriot as the perfect tool to fire Liverpool to the Premier League title. It didn't happen, though El Nino He left his mark on the Premier League well, with speed and power, all combined together.

That's something Diomande shares with the Premier League icon. The Ivory Coast star is more than just a defender, and on top of that, he has some experience in Spain, joining Leipzig from Leganes, where he cut his teeth, less than a year ago.

Already a significant upgrade for the aging and ailing Salah, the speedy winger will once again emulate Torres in replacing the big players. However, when Torres replaced Emile Heskey and Michael Owen, it was too little too late.

Diomande makes no mistake going inside and shoots his way forward and into the penalty area. His clinical completion allows him to succeed in such situations. However, if and when Liverpool completes the deal, Isak and Ekitike will be looking for a place to stay at the center – and understandably so.

As journalist Bence Bocsak put it: “No matter how much it costs, you're a star. You're worth every penny.”

Diomande's flamboyant and exciting style is exactly what Anfield fans are looking for. There is something important in that skill sheet as well. In that, perhaps Diomande is like Torres, a young striker with the world at his feet, arriving in the Premier League and returning Liverpool's frontline to the world's elite.