Yankuba Minteh Pushes for Liverpool Move Amid Brighton Negotiations
Yankuba Minteh has made his move. At least off the pitch.
The Brighton winger has told both his representatives and the club that he wants Anfield to be his next stop this summer, with Liverpool refusing to walk away despite seeing a second bid knocked back.
Liverpool turn up the heat
Liverpool’s recruitment team are busy reshaping Andoni Iraola’s forward line. Talks with Paris Saint-Germain over Bradley Barcola are already advanced, Victor Munoz is through the door, and now Minteh has become the third wide option they are pushing hard to land.
The 22-year-old Gambian has been tracked by Liverpool for some time. On July 8, transfer reporter Fraser Fletcher revealed that the club were preparing a major offer for a player they view as a livewire addition to their attack.
That interest has now turned into hard cash. An opening £50m bid was rejected. A second offer of £60m (€70m, $82m) has also been turned down.
Brighton are holding firm on value, but the gap is shrinking.
Reports across England suggest the Seagulls want around £70m. According to the Daily Mail’s Lewis Steele, writing on X, a deal could be done at roughly £66m. If that figure proves accurate, Liverpool are only £6m short of the number that would finally unlock the transfer.
For Brighton, that would represent a sharp piece of business: doubling the £33m they paid Newcastle just two summers ago for a player who has scored 10 goals in 73 appearances for the club.
Brighton prepare for life after Minteh
The signs from the south coast point in one direction. Brighton look ready to cash in.
They have already moved for a successor. Nigerian prospect Zadok Yohanna has arrived from AIK in a £21.5m deal, a familiar step in a well-worn Brighton pathway: identify talent, develop it, sell at a premium, then start the cycle again.
Fabian Hurzeler, who has just taken charge at the Amex, sounds like a coach braced for change rather than fighting it.
Speaking on Friday, he laid out the reality of life at a club that has become a selling powerhouse.
“It’s normal if you’re successful as a team, if the team is doing well, has some good achievements, then the individual can shine, and of course, there will be a big ask for our players,” he said.
“That’s part of our identity, part of my job here.
“It was clear to everyone that this might happen during a busy transfer window.
“We can go through now every individual player; we all know how important these kinds of players are for me.
“But we also know that good achievements, big achievements, especially in the Premier League, you create offers, you create a lot of attention.
“So we have to wait now; the situation will evolve.
“I’m not here to complain, I’m here to find solutions, and I’m convinced that, together with my players, we will find good solutions.”
The message is unmistakable: Brighton will not stand still if the price is right. And Minteh’s desire to leave for Merseyside only strengthens Liverpool’s hand as negotiations edge forward.
A shift in Liverpool’s winger plans
Liverpool’s aggressive pursuit of Minteh also says plenty about their wider strategy.
The club had been exploring a move for PSG teenager Ibrahim Mbaye, with his name mentioned in the same breath as Barcola during early discussions. Now, their push for Minteh suggests that particular avenue has been parked.
One journalist has even admitted he “daren’t say” what Mbaye might cost, a hint at the kind of fee Liverpool are keen to avoid for a player at such an early stage of his career.
Minteh, by contrast, is already a 20-cap Gambia international, tested in senior football and aligned with the sort of high-energy, high-ceiling profile Liverpool want in their wide areas.
Liverpool are close, Brighton are ready, and the player has made his preference clear.
The only question left is whether that final £6m will stand between Minteh and the Kop – or simply delay the inevitable.
