Yan Diomande explodes into life to show Liverpool what they are missing
Yan Diomande announced himself in La Liga on Tuesday night after choosing to join Real Madrid over Liverpool last month.
Liverpool's search for new attackers saw them register an interest in Diomande early on in the summer transfer window.
Their pursuit came off the back of an impressive breakout campaign at RB Leipzig which saw him register 13 goals and nine assists in 36 appearances.
Diomande then went to the World Cup and impressed for the Ivory Coast, leading Madrid and PSG to join the race for his services.
Madrid convinced him to join last month as he turned down the chance to arrive on Merseyside, and he turned in his first outstanding performance for the club against Elche in midweek.
Liverpool still look short in attack, despite the eventual signing of Bradley Barcola, and may well begin to regret not pushing for his signature.
Yan Diomande excelled against Elche with outstanding stats
Liverpool wanted to sign Diomande early on in the window, but saw a £85.4million bid rejected by Leipzig as they demanded over £100m for his services.
Sources exclusively revealed to Football Insider during the World Cup that top European clubs had begun to rival Liverpool for Diomande's signature, and so it proved that Real won the race in early August.
He has experienced a slow start to life at the Bernabeu under Jose Mourinho, but his Los Blancos career came to life as they beat Elche 3-2 on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old provided an assist for Kylian Mbappe to make it 2-0, while also creating the joint-most chances (3) in the match and completing the most dribbles (7) of any player on the pitch.
He also took 10 touches in the Elche box, a figure only bettered by Mbappe, while winning 12 ground duels and drawing three fouls.
It was a near-perfect performance to fire his side to victory, and one that will leave all connected to Liverpool wondering what could have been had he moved to Anfield instead.
Liverpool planning to bolster attacking ranks as Rayan approach eyed
Iraola remains keen to add more firepower to his options in the final third, with the club unable to continue bolstering their depth after Barcola's arrival.
Right-wing remains a problem position, but sources have exclusively revealed to Football Insider that Liverpool are considering a move to sign Bournemouth star Rayan next year.
The Brazilian international registered five goals and two assists in 15 appearances for Bournemouth last season and is already on the radar of numerous top sides.