Liverpool Targets Barcola and Minteh as Mbaye Deal Cools

Liverpool’s summer brief is brutally simple: add elite one-v-one threat out wide and rebuild an attack that has just lost Mohamed Salah.

They’ve already made a statement move. Victor Munoz, a 23-year-old FIFA World Cup winner, is in from Osasuna for £34 million, a deal wrapped up early to give Andoni Iraola a high-ceiling option in the wide areas. But with Salah gone on a lucrative free to Trabzonspor, that is only the first piece of a much bigger puzzle.

Barcola the marquee target

At the top end of that puzzle sits Bradley Barcola. Liverpool’s new sporting director Richard Hughes has been deep in talks for the Paris Saint-Germain winger, who PSG currently value at a staggering £145 million.

The 2024/25 Premier League champions are not biting at that figure. They want Barcola, but they want the price down before the window slams shut on September 1. The sense around Anfield is that Barcola is the crown jewel of this winger reshuffle – the one they are prepared to push furthest for, if PSG blink.

Minteh chase turns serious

While the Barcola saga rumbles on, Liverpool have quietly cranked up the pressure on another long-term target: Yankuba Minteh.

Two bids have already gone in to Brighton, worth £50 million and £60 million. Both were rejected. Brighton, typically stubborn and usually vindicated in the market, are holding out for close to £70 million, according to reports.

Liverpool have not walked away. Their focus has actually sharpened on the Gambian, whose profile fits the brief: explosive, direct, and ready to isolate full-backs. If Barcola is the blockbuster, Minteh is the next major swing.

Mbaye deal collapses over price

The third name in this winger carousel is Ibrahim Mbaye, Barcola’s teammate at PSG. The 18-year-old Senegal international, who prefers to operate off the right, has been on Liverpool’s radar for months.

Reports last week claimed Mbaye had agreed personal terms on a five-year deal at Anfield. That talk was quickly cooled by club insiders, who described Liverpool’s stance as “exploratory” rather than advanced. Now the numbers have killed it.

RMC Sport reports that PSG want €70 million (£60 million) for the homegrown attacker. Liverpool simply will not go there. Internally, the view is that Mbaye is still developing, still raw, and that fee would be paying almost entirely for potential rather than proven output.

For a coach like Iraola, who needs players ready to deliver from day one in a title-defending season, that level of risk is a step too far.

RMC states that Liverpool remain interested in Mbaye and that the player has agreed terms on a future contract with the English club. But the same report is clear: Liverpool are not prepared to invest €70 million, and are not even willing to reach €60 million, especially with Mbaye having two years left on his PSG deal and the French club signalling he is free to leave this summer.

Liverpool’s own valuation sits closer to €50 million (£43 million). The gap is too wide. For now, the deal is effectively off.

Two wingers, not three

Inside Anfield, the plan is becoming clearer. Club reporters indicate that Liverpool expect Barcola and one more winger to arrive before the window shuts.

That “one more” now looks far more likely to be Minteh than Mbaye.

The logic is ruthless but consistent. With Munoz already through the door, Barcola targeted as the headline addition, and Minteh pursued aggressively, there is little room – or budget – left for another high-fee project player on the right.

Liverpool’s intensified focus on Minteh is being read as the final nail in any Mbaye move. Unless PSG dramatically revise their demands, Mbaye will not be the man replacing Salah on that flank.

The champions want wide men who can beat their man, change games, and keep them at the top of English football. By the end of this window, we will know if Barcola and Minteh are the pair trusted to carry that weight.