Liverpool Pursue PSG's Ibrahim Mbaye for Winger Rebuild
Liverpool have sounded out a deal for Paris Saint-Germain’s teenage winger Ibrahim Mbaye, with the 18-year-old Senegal international open to a move to Anfield as the club’s wide rebuild gathers pace.
The right-sided winger, one of the brightest prospects to emerge from PSG’s academy in recent years, has emerged as a serious option as Liverpool target fresh firepower out wide following the departure of Mohamed Salah at the end of last season.
Five-winger plan drives Liverpool’s market moves
Andoni Iraola has made it clear: his system lives and dies by its wide players. Liverpool’s recruitment team are working to deliver exactly that, drawing up a plan to finish the window with five wingers on the books – one of them a younger project player to develop over the coming years.
Mbaye fits that profile almost perfectly. Young, explosive, right-sided, and already hardened by international football and a World Cup stage, he offers upside now and significant room to grow.
Liverpool’s interest in him sits alongside – not behind – their admiration for his PSG team-mate Bradley Barcola. The club hold a strong interest in Barcola, but have not yet submitted a formal offer for either player, and crucially, any move for Mbaye is described as completely independent of a potential Barcola deal.
That distinction matters. It underlines that Mbaye is not a fallback, not a budget alternative, but a separate target in a broader strategy to refresh the attack.
Barcola price a problem, Mbaye opens a different door
There is a hard reality in all of this: PSG’s current £145m valuation of Barcola makes that particular transfer extremely difficult to execute. Liverpool admire the Frenchman, but those numbers turn negotiations into a high-wire act.
Mbaye, by contrast, represents a different kind of opportunity. Liverpool are exploring the conditions of a deal, assessing what it would take to bring him to Merseyside while still leaving room for another, more experienced wide option in the same window.
The idea of signing both a seasoned winger and Mbaye has not been ruled out. In fact, it aligns with the club’s stated intention to have a blend of proven quality and emerging talent in the wide areas as Iraola stamps his identity on the side.
From Paris to the world stage
Mbaye’s rise has been fast and unapologetic. He came through PSG’s youth system and made his senior debut in August 2024, just 16 years old and already trusted in one of Europe’s most pressurised environments.
Born in Senegal but developed in France, he represented France at youth level before committing to Senegal, making his senior international debut in November 2025. That decision set the stage for his breakout moment on the biggest platform of all.
At the 2026 World Cup, Mbaye wrote his name into the record books. In Senegal’s 3-1 defeat to France, he scored aged 18 years and 143 days, becoming the youngest African ever to score at the tournament. A consolation goal on the day, but a landmark strike in African football history – and the kind of moment that tends to catch the eye of elite recruiters across Europe.
For a Liverpool side searching for a new right-sided threat after Salah, that profile is hard to ignore. A teenager who has already handled World Cup pressure offers something more than raw promise; he brings evidence.
Life after Salah
Replacing a figure as monumental as Salah is not a one-signing job. Liverpool know that. The plan to stockpile five wingers underlines a shift from reliance on a single superstar to a more layered, flexible attack.
Victor Munoz has already arrived at Anfield this summer, one piece of the puzzle. Mbaye is another potential tile, one that could give Iraola a direct, daring runner from the right, capable of stretching defences and attacking full-backs one-on-one.
The attraction is obvious: a player young enough to mould, experienced enough not to shrink when the Kop roars.
Liverpool have not yet turned their interest into a formal bid, and PSG, as ever, will not be easy negotiators. But the direction of travel is clear. Iraola wants his wings rebuilt, refreshed and relentless.
If Mbaye becomes part of that project, Anfield may soon be watching the youngest African World Cup goalscorer grow into his next role – not as a curiosity from Qatar or North America, but as a central figure in Liverpool’s new era on the right flank.
