Liverpool lose second winger target to PSG as Wirtz pressure warning lands for Iraola

Liverpool’s search for a Mohamed Salah replacement has hit another wall, with Monaco winger Maghnes Akliouche informing the club that his priority this summer is a move to Paris Saint-Germain, according to TeamTalk. The development follows earlier reports that primary target Yan Diomande also favours PSG, leaving sporting director Richard Hughes and head coach Andoni Iraola to reassess their options in the wide areas.

Akliouche, 24, has been one of Ligue 1’s standout performers over the past year and earned a place in Didier Deschamps’ World Cup squad on the back of his form at Monaco. Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United have also monitored the Frenchman this season, but PSG are reported to have held direct talks with his representatives, with a deal in the region of £60 million said to be progressing.

The 19-year-old Diomande, an Ivory Coast winger currently featuring at the World Cup, had been identified as Liverpool’s primary target to fill the void left by Salah’s departure. With both Diomande and Akliouche now appearing to be heading to the Parc des Princes, Liverpool face a significant rethink over who leads their attacking rebuild this window.

Separately, Iraola has received a pointed message about one of his inherited players. Florian Wirtz joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen last summer in a deal worth up to £116 million, but the German struggled to justify that fee under Arne Slot, finishing the season with seven goals and eight assists across all competitions.

Vladimir Smicer, who lifted the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, believes the weight of that transfer fee made Wirtz’s first campaign harder than it needed to be — and that the 23-year-old will need careful management from Iraola heading into next season.

“I think the price tag and the transfer money from Leverkusen to Liverpool was big, and the pressure was on Wirtz with statistics about how much his goals and assists cost,” Smicer told Casinostugan. “But a player like him will be under pressure all the time. You have to perform for Liverpool, and now for Germany. They will expect a lot from him.”

Wirtz is currently representing Germany at the World Cup, giving Iraola a chance to observe him in a high-stakes environment before pre-season begins. How the new head coach structures the attack around the German playmaker could prove one of the defining questions of Liverpool’s summer.