Liverpool transfer news: Andoni Iraola must "break bank" for £120.9m Mo Salah replacement - it's not Yan Diomande

Liverpool should beryllium 'breaking the bank' to motion Paris Saint-Germain helping wizard Khvicha Kvaratskhelia alternatively than targeting Yan Diomande arsenic Mohamed Salah's successor, Danny Murphy has exclusively told Sports Mole.

The Reds are firmly successful readying mode for the summertime transportation model aft confirming the assignment of caller caput manager Andoni Iraola, who has arrived astatine a clip erstwhile Salah is packing his Merseyside bags.

As the latter's backup Federico Chiesa has struggled to marque his people successful England, Liverpool are expected to people a big-money replacement for Salah, and RB Leipzig's Diomande appears to person emerged arsenic the front-runner.

Diomande volition reportedly articulation Liverpool oregon 1 Premier League rival during the summertime transportation window, though the 2024-25 champions would person to fork retired astatine slightest £100m to bring him to Anfield.

If Liverpool are to cough up specified an magnitude for a Salah successor, ex-Red Murphy believes that their wealth would beryllium amended spent connected Kvaratskhelia, who would beryllium a little risky signing than his Ivorian counterpart.

Danny Murphy: 'Liverpool should interruption slope for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia'

Asked if Diomande was the cleanable acceptable for Liverpool, Murphy responded: "He could perchance beryllium a precise bully successor to Mohamed Salah.

"He’s precise dynamic, tin spell some ways, tin people goals and precise fit. He looks a terrific endowment from what I’ve seen of him, truthful helium could perchance beryllium a bully replacement.

"I wouldn’t accidental he’s the cleanable replacement though, due to the fact that you ideally privation idiosyncratic who’s played astatine the apical level earlier and wouldn’t beryllium fazed by large games, truthful they tin travel successful and deed the crushed running.

"If I was successful complaint of Liverpool, I would beryllium trying to interruption the slope for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia; helium tin play connected the close arsenic comfortably arsenic helium tin connected the near and he’s astir apt the champion winger successful the satellite astatine the moment.

"When a subordinate has been astatine PSG for a portion and won the Champions League twice, possibly the situation of playing successful the Premier League could beryllium exciting. It’s astir apt unlikely, but if helium was to locomotion done the door, there’d beryllium zero risks attached to him, whereas young players similar Diomande could instrumentality time."

Comparing Yan Diomande and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia amid Liverpool transportation links

When comparing Diomande and Kvaratskhelia purely from a league consciousness past season, the baseline statistic favour the former, who registered 20 Bundesliga extremity involvements compared to the latter's 12 nonstop Ligue 1 contributions.

However, Kvaratskhelia saved his champion for the European stage, winning the Champions League Player of the Season grant courtesy of claiming 10 goals and 7 assists en way to a 2nd consecutive title.

The erstwhile Napoli antheral besides played 994 less minutes successful Ligue 1 than Diomande did successful the Bundesliga, meaning that his 12 goals and assists person to 1 each 123.5 minutes, marginally amended than Diomande's ratio of 1 each 123.8 minutes.

Kvaratskhelia besides registered a superior passing accuracy (87.9% to Diomande's 84%) and duel occurrence complaint (52.8% to Diomande's 50.6%), though the former's take-on occurrence complaint of 59.9% trumped Kvaratskhelia's 57.9%.

As Murphy alluded to, though, PSG are good wrong their rights to request an extortionate interest for Kvaratskhelia - valued astatine £120.9m by Transfermarkt - truthful Diomande is by acold the astir realistic signing for Reds supporters.

Danny Murphy was speaking to Sports Mole connected behalf of NetBet Online Betting.