Liverpool face crucial decision on Yankuba Minteh transfer
Liverpool are staring at one of the defining calls of their summer: push past £70million for Yankuba Minteh, or walk away from a deal they’ve been chasing for weeks.
With the window closing in, Mohamed Salah’s long-term successor is still not in the building. Victor Munoz has arrived and already made an impact – he won a penalty on debut in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle – but Liverpool’s recruitment team have been clear all summer that one wide signing would not necessarily be the end of it. Two wingers have been on the agenda. The problem is the price of the one they really want.
Liverpool weigh up Minteh gamble
Liverpool have already tested Brighton’s resolve twice for Minteh. A £50million bid went in. Rejected. A second offer, up to £60million, met the same response. Brighton’s stance is simple: if you want the Gambian, you pay north of £70million.
Ben Jacobs reports that “fresh talks” are underway between the clubs, with Liverpool now locked in an internal debate over whether to go that high. On one hand, Minteh’s profile is exactly what they have targeted – young, explosive, Premier League-proven, and with 17 goal contributions already in the division. On the other, that fee is being measured against the weight of the role he may inherit.
This is the man who could be asked to step into the space once occupied by arguably Liverpool’s greatest ever player. That is a heavy shirt, and a hefty price, for someone still at the start of his career.
The hesitation is real. The interest is, too.
Mbaye chase cools as price bites
While Minteh remains firmly on the radar, another winger appears to be slipping away.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Ibrahim Mbaye has been a long-standing target, but Liverpool have now backed off as the European champions hold firm on their valuation. Fabrizio Romano summed up the situation bluntly.
“For Ibrahim Mbaye, appreciated, yes, talks, yes, but other clubs could jump on the opportunity because Liverpool at the moment considered Paris Saint-Germain’s price too high for Ibrahim Mbaye,” he said on YouTube.
PSG’s asking price is understood to start at around €70million (£60m). It is not just Liverpool who have balked at that figure, but for the Anfield hierarchy, it has been enough to cool serious negotiations. With Mbaye drifting out of reach and Minteh locked behind a rising fee, the winger market is tightening fast.
Three big midfielders passed over
While the focus has been on wide players, another major decision has already been made in the middle of the pitch.
Curtis Jones has gone to Inter Milan, leaving a gap that many expected Liverpool to fill with a high-profile midfield signing. Andoni Iraola did his homework. He looked hard at the market. Then he walked away.
TEAMtalk insider Graeme Bailey revealed that Iraola’s initial instinct was concern about depth.
“Before pre-season I am told that Andoni Iraola, aware of the Curtis Jones situation, was worried about the depth – one reason he wanted Jones to stay,” Bailey said.
Liverpool’s recruitment team ran the rule over some serious names. Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes were all assessed. None of those situations were judged to be right, for a variety of sporting and financial reasons.
Attention then shifted to a younger tier of talent. Adam Wharton, Alex Scott and Lamine Camara were all closely examined and impressed those inside the club. But the numbers again told their own story.
“We are talking £50, £60 or even more than £70million in terms of deals,” Bailey explained. For a club already wrestling with huge valuations for wide players, committing that kind of money in midfield this summer was never going to be straightforward.
Nyoni changes the plan
The turning point came from within.
Into pre-season stepped Trey Nyoni, and the teenager has forced a rethink. Iraola has been blown away by what he has seen, to the point that the club no longer feel compelled to buy a Jones replacement.
“Then in comes Nyoni and he has blown Iraola away, they firmly believe he is first-team ready and can compete with the likes of [Dominik] Szoboszlai, [Ryan] Gravenberch and [Alexis] Mac Allister – they really see that as a midfield four and they even have Endo still around,” Bailey added.
That internal promotion has changed the equation. Money that might have gone on a midfielder can now be directed towards the wide areas, where the Salah succession plan still hangs in the balance.
And so Liverpool arrive at the sharp end of the window with a clear fork in the road: trust their valuation and walk away from Brighton’s demands, or go all in on Minteh and pay the kind of fee usually reserved for finished articles, not emerging stars.
One way or another, the decision they make on the Gambian will echo through the first phase of the post-Salah era.
