Salomon Kalou backs Diomande’s rise as PSG and Premier League battle heats up for €100m-rated winger
Former Chelsea and Côte d’Ivoire winger Salomon Kalou has praised rising star Yan Diomande, saying the 19-year-old’s growing confidence could see him succeed at the highest level as European clubs circle.
Diomande has been linked with a major move this summer, with ESPN reporting that Paris Saint-Germain are close to beating Liverpool and other suitors to a deal worth around €100m (£114m), including add-ons, for the RB Leipzig forward.
Kalou, who joined Chelsea from Feyenoord at the age of 20, said he believes the Premier League remains the best environment for young players to develop, but acknowledged that Diomande’s mentality sets him apart from previous generations of Ivorian footballers.
"I think he has something about him - at his young age, he already has the confidence. You can see he is very confident about what he can do on the pitch," Kalou told SuperSport before Ivory Coast's 2-1 loss to Norway that saw them eliminated from the FIFA World Cup.
He added that a move to PSG would also make sense given the French club’s current dominance in domestic and European competitions.
"I think if that's the choice - to go to PSG - there's a reason behind it. PSG is a team that is winning everything at the moment, so why not if he wants to be in a team that wins everything?
"If you ask me, between the Premier League and Ligue 1 - where a player can develop most, I would say the Premier League - but [Paris-Saint Germain] is a top club and a team that can win everything.
"His confidence in himself already shows that he understands that if he wants to be among the best, he needs to show it. He is doing that for Ivory Coast at the moment, so we are happy and we are proud of what we are doing for the country."
Kalou also highlighted Diomande’s mentality as a defining trait of the current Ivory Coast squad, which was eliminated from the World Cup following a 2-1 defeat to Norway.
"They have something that we didn't have, even [though] people say [the team from the 2000s and 2010s was] the golden generation - but they have something [in the current generation] that we didn't have: it's that they can play dirty, they can make it hard, they can fight.
"We wanted to win the perfect game back in the day... [the current generation] understood that there is no perfect game. You've got to win the games."