Liverpool Eyes Barcola Over Mbaye in Transfer Window

Liverpool’s search for a new wide forward has repeatedly taken them to Ligue 1, but the picture around PSG talent Mbaye is far less advanced than it first appeared.

French journalist Romain Molina has poured cold water on talk of an imminent push for the youngster, stressing that while Liverpool like the player, he is not at the top of their attacking wishlist as the window ticks into its final stretch.

“Truthfully, Mbaye is on Liverpool’s shortlist but not as the No. 1 choice,” Molina said, laying out the current landscape.

The dynamic around Mbaye is being shaped as much by his agent as by any one club. Jorge Mendes, who represents the PSG prospect, is expected to bide his time and lean on his network rather than force a straight-line deal with Liverpool.

“Mendes knows very well that at the end of the transfer window there will be something for Mbaye, so he will use the clubs where he has the most influence to make things move,” Molina explained.

That strategy stands in stark contrast to Liverpool’s stance on Mbaye’s teammate, Barcola. The Reds are understood to be focusing more energy on Barcola, a player whose camp operates very differently from the Mendes playbook and whose situation is not being driven by Mendes’ long-standing ties around Europe.

“That’s not where he’s most influential, especially with the price currently being asked by Paris Saint-Germain,” Molina noted of Mendes’ role, with PSG holding out for big numbers.

The comparison with Barcola’s representative, Moussa Sissoko, is stark. Molina underlined the gulf in approach between the two agents.

“That’s where you see the difference between the two agents. For Mendes it’s not so much the player’s wishes that count, it’s where he has connections with the executives to make things move how he wants. With [Sissoko] it’s the opposite. Even if it means clashing with clubs, even if it means going hard. He wants to go to war for his players."

If Mbaye’s price and his place on Liverpool’s list prove too much of a hurdle, the club are not short of alternatives. Recruitment staff have lined up several other wide options: Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh, Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Bournemouth’s Rayan have all been monitored as potential solutions out wide.

Another name gaining traction is Köln forward Said El Mala. The attacker, capable of playing on either flank or through the middle, had been linked with Borussia Dortmund earlier in the window, only for that path to close.

Sky Germany now report that Dortmund have stepped away, a development that could open a clear lane for Liverpool if they decide El Mala is worth his reported €50m (£42.7m) release clause.

A double swoop on Paris for Mbaye and Barcola would thrill supporters, but the numbers are daunting. PSG are expected to demand a combined fee north of £150m for the pair, a figure that forces even a club of Liverpool’s stature to think twice.

Molina’s assessment is blunt: Mbaye remains under consideration, yet the scale of the finances involved may push Liverpool toward a different, as-yet unnamed, attacking target.

The clock is running. Liverpool’s next move in the market will reveal whether they lean into Paris, pivot to the Bundesliga, or spring a late surprise from that guarded shortlist.