Ibrahim Mbaye: Liverpool's Future Right Wing Star
Liverpool’s Salah succession plan may finally have a face. And it belongs to an 18-year-old from Senegal.
Life after Salah – and a glaring hole on the right
Mohamed Salah walked away from Anfield this summer having carved out one of the defining Liverpool careers of the modern era. Goals, trophies, nights that will live forever under the lights – his departure was always going to leave more than just a gap on the teamsheet.
You’d expect a club of Liverpool’s size to move quickly, to unveil a ready-made right-sided forward before pre-season truly bit. Yet the new campaign is less than three weeks away and that flank remains conspicuously empty.
There is no orthodox right-winger in the squad. Not even a clear understudy.
Jeremie Frimpong can operate high on that side, but he is fundamentally a full-back or wing-back. With Conor Bradley sidelined, Frimpong is needed deeper, not pushed on as a makeshift winger. The links to Bradley Barcola have stirred some excitement, but he thrives on the opposite flank, cutting in from the left. None of this solves the core problem: who actually owns the right wing for Liverpool now?
Right now, there is no obvious answer for the opening day. Long term, though, a name has entered the frame.
Ibrahim Mbaye: the bold bet
On Tuesday evening, reports emerged that Liverpool are moving for Ibrahim Mbaye, with talks expected to begin shortly. Journalist Fabrice Hawkins has reported genuine interest from the club, while Fabrizio Romano has indicated that the player is keen on the move.
This is not the signing of a finished product. Mbaye is 18. He is not walking into Anfield as a like-for-like Salah replacement from day one. He would arrive as a project – but a potentially spectacular one.
Within the club’s recruitment thinking, that matters. The market for right-sided forwards at the elite level is, by all accounts, thin and wildly inflated. There are not many players who can even be spoken about in the same breath as Salah in terms of ceiling. Mbaye is viewed as one of the rare talents who might, over time, grow into that kind of role.
Liverpool’s interest reflects that belief. They know they are not shopping in a market overflowing with options; they are hunting for the outlier, the player whose trajectory can be bent upwards by the right environment.
A successor in the making, not the finished article
Calling Mbaye a “Salah replacement” today would be unfair on both. Salah arrived as a proven top-flight attacker. Mbaye is a teenager with the tools, not yet the résumé.
But that is precisely why he appeals.
The Senegal youngster carries the attributes that can be moulded into something special. The raw talent suggests a potential world-beater if his development stays on track. Liverpool have built an era on turning high-upside signings into global stars, and they recognise how few wide forwards offer that blend of promise and availability on the right side.
This is not a romantic notion of finding “the next Salah” in one neat transfer. It is a calculated punt on a profile they like, at a time when the market offers little else.
If Liverpool get Mbaye through the door, they will not just be filling a squad slot. They will be placing a long-term bet on who carries that right flank into the next era.
The question now is simple: can an 18-year-old from Senegal grow into the role vacated by one of Anfield’s greatest?
