Emile Heskey would love for Liverpool to sign wing wizard who makes defenders ‘take two steps back’

Emile Heskey has said that he’d love to see Liverpool signing RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande due to the ‘unpredictability’ that he offers.

Last month, CaughtOffside reported that the Reds have the ‘strongest’ interest out of the numerous clubs who’ve been linked with the 19-year-old, who has previously proclaimed to be a childhood fan of the Merseysie giants.

Bundesliga insider Christian Falk has claimed that Anfield chiefs have been ‘thinking about’ a potential €100m (£87.2m) move for the Ivory Coast international and could even make an offer to the Red Bull-owned club in the coming weeks, despite the transfer market now being shut until the summer.

Heskey makes the case for Liverpool to sign Diomande

Speaking to Ace Odds, Heskey was asked if he feels that Diomande should be a primary target for Liverpool over the next few months, and his response was very much in the affirmative.

The former Reds striker said: “Someone like Yan Diomande gives you that unpredictability and runs in behind and creates chances. 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 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.

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

Diomande could rejuvenate Liverpool’s much-criticised attack

During a frustrating run of draws in January, John Aldridge was among those who criticised Liverpool’s attacking play for being too ponderous, with opposition defences easily able to handle the Reds’ forward threat so long as they were well-organised.

While scoring 10 goals in our last two games has been a welcome change of pace, it’ll take more than a couple of matches for sceptics to be convinced that Arne Slot’s team have been transformed into an unstoppable force of nature in attack.

With his ‘quick feet and pace to burn’ (Bundesliga.com), Diomande could be exactly the kind of player to get Kopites off their seats and have them brimming with anticipation every time he gets the ball – similar to the excitement that Rio Ngumoha has generated in his fledgling first-team career thus far.

The RB Leipzig winger also offers substance to go along with the style, contributing eight goals and six assists in 21 games this season, and he can readily swap between the left and right flanks (Transfermarkt).

The qualities that Heskey highlighted are backed up by a statistic from WhoScored that the 19-year-old has completed by far the most dribbles of any player in the Bundesliga this season with 60 – teammate Antonio Nusa is next on the list with 43.

Diomande may well provide that unpredictability in attack which’d have Anfield oozing, and while he certainly wouldn’t come cheap, the evidence of recent months would suggest that he’s capable of becoming a genuine show-stopper of a forward over the coming years.

You can watch Slot’s full pre-Manchester City press conference below, via Empire of the Kop on YouTube:

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