Liverpool Ends Pursuit of Ibrahim Mbaye as Winger Rebuild Continues
Liverpool’s summer brief is brutally simple: add elite one-v-one threat out wide, fast.
The first piece is already in. Victor Munoz, a 23-year-old FIFA World Cup winner, has arrived from Osasuna in a £34 million deal, a statement signing for a side that has just reclaimed the Premier League title. But Munoz is only part of the answer.
Mohamed Salah has gone. The club icon has walked away on a lucrative free transfer to Trabzonspor, ripping a huge hole out of Liverpool’s right flank and goal output. That departure has turned an area of long-term planning into an urgent rebuild.
Barcola the marquee target
High on the list sits Bradley Barcola. Liverpool’s new sporting director Richard Hughes has been working on a deal for the Paris Saint-Germain winger, who PSG value at a staggering £145 million.
Liverpool want him, but not at that number. With the transfer window running until September 1, the champions are banking on time and pressure to drag that fee down into something even remotely reasonable. Barcola is viewed as a potential headline arrival, a player who could reshape the attack for years.
While that negotiation rumbles on in the background, the club have moved more aggressively elsewhere.
Minteh talks intensify
Attention has swung sharply towards Yankuba Minteh. Liverpool have admired the Gambian winger for a long time and are now testing Brighton’s resolve.
Two bids have already gone in from Merseyside, worth £50 million and £60 million. Both have been rejected. Brighton, as so often in recent years, are holding firm and signalling they want around £70 million before they even think about doing business.
For Liverpool, Minteh represents something close to the ideal profile: young, explosive, and already hardened by Premier League intensity. For Brighton, he represents leverage.
Mbaye pursuit stalls on price
While Barcola and Minteh dominate the headlines, another name has drifted towards the exit door of Liverpool’s shortlist.
Ibrahim Mbaye, the 18-year-old PSG winger and Senegal international, has been repeatedly linked with Anfield. Reports last week suggested he had agreed personal terms on a five-year contract with Liverpool. That talk was quickly cooled by club sources, who stressed their interest was only “exploratory”.
Now the numbers have effectively killed the move.
RMC Sport reports that PSG want an eye-watering €70 million (around £60 million) for Mbaye, a homegrown attacker who prefers to operate from the right. Liverpool, according to the same outlet, are not prepared to go anywhere near that figure and would only value him at around €50 million (£43 million).
The report states: “Liverpool remain interested in Ibrahim Mbaye, and the player has agreed terms with the English club on a future contract. However, at this stage, Liverpool is not prepared to invest €70 million in the Paris Saint-Germain player.
“Internally, the English club, which has explored other options, is reportedly unwilling to even go as high as €60 million, given that Mbaye still has two years remaining on his contract with PSG and the Parisian club has made it clear that he is free to leave this summer.”
On paper, Mbaye brings trophies and pedigree for his age. In reality, he is still very much a work in progress. At €70 million, Liverpool would be paying almost entirely for potential, not guaranteed end product.
That is a gamble Andoni Iraola cannot afford. The new Liverpool head coach needs at least one wide player who can walk straight into the starting XI and deliver from day one, not a project who might blossom two years down the line.
The price has done the club’s thinking for them. Liverpool have effectively stepped away.
Barcola and Minteh the likely outcome
Inside Anfield, the winger plan is becoming clearer. Liverpool reporters indicate that the club want Barcola plus one more wide signing before the window shuts.
That “one more” now looks far more likely to be Minteh than Mbaye. With the focus turning firmly towards the Gambian and talks ongoing with Brighton, the Mbaye pursuit has, in effect, reached its end.
If Liverpool can land Barcola and Minteh to join Munoz, the champions will have rebuilt their wide options in one ferocious summer. The only question now is how far they are willing to push, and how hard their rivals are prepared to resist.
