Liverpool's Transfer Focus: Barcola Over Mbaye

Liverpool’s late-window attacking plans are being built around Paris – but not around Mbaye.

The Premier League club have been heavily linked with a double swoop on PSG, yet French journalist Romain Molina has poured cold water on the idea that Mbaye is at the heart of their strategy. The forward is admired. He is on the list. He is not, however, the list.

“Truthfully, Mbaye is on Liverpool’s shortlist but not as the No. 1 choice,” Molina said, outlining a hierarchy that leaves the PSG youngster more as a fallback than a headline act as the window ticks into its final stretch.

What happens next may hinge less on Liverpool and more on Jorge Mendes. Molina stressed that the super-agent’s manoeuvring could dictate Mbaye’s destination, with the player’s camp braced for late drama.

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

The contrast with Mbaye’s PSG teammate Barcola is stark. While Mbaye’s future feels tied to Mendes’ network, Liverpool’s energy is understood to be directed far more firmly towards Barcola, whose camp operates with a very different philosophy.

Here, Mendes’ name does not carry the same weight. Not at Anfield, not at the prices PSG are quoting.

“That’s not where he’s most influential, especially with the price currently being asked by Paris Saint-Germain,” Molina noted, underlining that Liverpool’s interest is not being driven by any special relationship with the agent.

The comparison with Barcola’s representative, Moussa Sissoko, is telling. Molina framed it as a clash of approaches in the modern transfer market.

“That’s where you see the difference between the two agents,” he said. “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.”

While the noise around PSG dominates the headlines, Liverpool’s recruitment team have not put all their chips on Paris. They have built out a wider safety net.

If Mbaye proves too expensive or remains stuck down the pecking order, alternative wide options are already being tracked. Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh, Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Bournemouth’s Rayan are all being monitored as potential solutions in the wide areas, contingency plans for a window that can turn in a single phone call.

Another name edging into the frame is Koln’s Said El Mala. The versatile attacker, capable of playing on either flank or through the middle, had previously been linked with Borussia Dortmund. That path seems to have closed.

Sky Germany report that Dortmund have stepped away from the race, a decision that could open a clear lane for Liverpool if they decide El Mala fits the profile and is worth the gamble at his reported €50m (£42.7m) release clause.

The romantic idea of a double raid on PSG remains enticing for Liverpool supporters, but the numbers tell a harsher story. PSG are expected to demand a combined fee north of £150m for Mbaye and Barcola, a figure that forces even a club of Liverpool’s stature to pause.

Molina’s suggestion is blunt: Mbaye is being considered, but the overall financial package could push Liverpool towards a different, currently unnamed target as the deadline looms. The shortlist is long, the hours are not.

Liverpool know they cannot afford to miss on this attacking call. The clock is running, the market is shifting, and somewhere in that chaos, their next forward has to be found.