Liverpool Pursue Barcola and Minteh as Mbaye Talks Stagnate
Liverpool’s wide-forward rebuild is accelerating, but one name is starting to slip down the list. As talks with Paris Saint-Germain drag on, Ibrahim Mbaye is being nudged aside by the twin pursuits of Bradley Barcola and Yankuba Minteh.
PSG’s attacking reshuffle has opened the door. With Maghnes Akliouche and Mika Godts arriving to swell an already packed forward line, both Mbaye and Barcola are ready to move on. Liverpool have moved quickly: discussions with PSG are under way for both players, and personal terms are already in place.
The problem, as always, is the price.
PSG’s stance on Mbaye complicates Liverpool plan
On Mbaye, the gap is stark. PSG value the forward between £43m and £50m. Liverpool see a £30m player. That stand-off has left the deal stuck in the slow lane while the club’s energy shifts elsewhere.
Speaking on the After Foot podcast, RMC Sport journalist Fabrice Hawkins underlined just how delicate the Mbaye talks have become.
“Ibrahim Mbaye has a contractual agreement with Liverpool,” he revealed. “What’s really going to be a problem is the agreement between clubs because LFC are already negotiating for Barcola, who is their top priority, they really want to make it happen and I said, I think it’s going to go through.”
That sense is shared by those close to the negotiations.
“That’s the feeling amongst everyone in the deal,” Hawkins said. “Secondly, there’s Ibrahim Mbaye, but PSG are asking for a substantial fee, and at the moment Liverpool aren’t ready to accept that.
“Whilst they’re sitting down negotiating with Barcola, they’re saying ‘we will negotiate, we will find common ground’. For Ibrahim Mbaye, it’s a little bit more problematic, but negotiations are still ongoing.”
So Mbaye waits, tied to an agreement with Liverpool but with no breakthrough between the clubs in sight.
Barcola: the headline target
Barcola is a different story. He is the one Liverpool want most, and everyone involved knows it.
PSG initially slapped a huge €170m price tag on the winger. That has already come down. Their internal valuation dropped first to €145m, then to €125m, while Liverpool have gone as high as an offer of €115m (£98m) and are prepared to edge closer to €120m.
Hawkins painted a clear picture of a player pushing for Anfield and a club ready to let him go.
“Bradley Barcola wants to join Liverpool. PSG were informed earlier of his desire, and it was accepted,” he said. “There’s no intention to keep Bradley Barcola. The sticking point has been the valuation, where they started at €170m.”
The pressure finally told. Verbal offers have gone back and forth, and the next step feels decisive.
“Liverpool have made different verbal offers. They’ve made offers since the verbal one, but there hasn’t been a written offer yet because, at this level, I think the next written offer will be the one that gets it done,” Hawkins explained.
“We’ve understood that it would be somewhere between €130m and €150m, but in any case, it won’t be below €120m for Bradley Barcola. Everyone involved in this deal thinks there will be an agreement.”
Liverpool’s confidence is clear: Barcola remains the top winger target, and the expectation among negotiators is that a compromise will be found.
Minteh move shifts Mbaye down the list
Just as Mbaye’s prospects were clouded by PSG’s demands, another name has surged into the frame. According to Lewis Steele of the Daily Mail, Liverpool have now chosen to prioritise Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh over the PSG forward.
Liverpool have already tested Brighton’s resolve with a £50m bid, which was rejected, and are preparing a new offer. That fresh focus on Minteh underlines how quickly the hierarchy of targets can change when one deal becomes too awkward.
Yet Barcola’s position at the top of the list has not changed. Even while talks with Brighton for Minteh continue, Liverpool still see the Frenchman as the key piece in their wide attacking rebuild.
The ideal outcome? Both Barcola and Minteh through the door, Mbaye left as the complicated option in the background.
If Liverpool land that double swoop, their winger department will look unrecognisable. The question now is whether PSG’s stance on Mbaye, and the escalating numbers around Barcola and Minteh, will let them complete such an ambitious overhaul in a single window.
