Liverpool's Transfer Interest in Mbaye: A Strategic Overview
Liverpool’s late-window search for another forward has taken them back to Ligue 1, but the picture around PSG prospect Mbaye is far less dramatic than some early reports suggested.
According to French journalist Romain Molina, the young attacker is admired at Anfield, yet he is nowhere near the focal point of their plans as the clock ticks down on the summer market.
“Truthfully, Mbaye is on Liverpool’s shortlist but not as the No. 1 choice,” Molina said, cutting through the noise around a supposed double swoop on Paris.
Mbaye interest real – but not decisive
Liverpool’s recruitment team has kept tabs on several of PSG’s brightest talents, and Mbaye has inevitably been dragged into the rumour mill. The reality, as painted by Molina, is more nuanced.
The club like the player. They rate his potential. But they are not building their window around him.
Instead, Mbaye’s next move could hinge less on Liverpool’s desire and more on the strategy of his agent, Jorge Mendes. Molina underlined that dynamic, stressing that the super-agent is working the market in his usual way.
“Mendes knows very well that at the end of the transfer window there will be something for Mbaye, so he will use the clubs where he has the most influence to make things move,” he explained.
Barcola the priority, not Mbaye
While Mbaye’s name circulates, Liverpool’s real focus at PSG lies elsewhere.
The contrast with his teammate Barcola is stark. Molina suggests the Reds are giving greater priority to a move for Barcola, whose representation is handled very differently to the Mendes model.
Mendes’ long-standing relationships across Europe are legendary, but in this specific case they are not driving the deal. Especially 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 said of Mendes’ role in this negotiation.
Barcola’s camp, led by agent Moussa Sissoko, operates on another wavelength entirely. Molina drew a clear line between the two approaches: “That’s where you see the difference between the two agents. 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.”
For Liverpool, that means one target shaped by an agent’s network, and another driven more forcefully by the player’s own ambitions and a representative willing to fight to deliver them.
Financial reality bites
The romantic notion of Liverpool raiding Paris for two of its brightest young forwards runs into a hard wall: money.
PSG are expected to demand a combined fee north of £150m for Mbaye and Barcola. That figure changes the entire equation. It stretches any club’s margin for error, even one as commercially powerful as Liverpool.
Molina’s reading is blunt. Mbaye is under consideration, but the overall financial package could easily push Liverpool towards a different, as yet unnamed, solution in attack.
If Mbaye is not the top name on the list and PSG refuse to budge on price, the logical outcome is simple: the Reds walk away.
Alternative options lined up
Liverpool have not put all their hopes on Paris.
Their scouting department has been working through a wider pool of wide forwards, with Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh, Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Bournemouth’s Rayan all monitored as potential additions in the wide areas.
Each of those names fits a familiar Liverpool pattern: young, energetic, with room to grow under a demanding coaching setup.
Another option has emerged in the Bundesliga. Köln’s Said El Mala has entered the frame in recent weeks, a versatile forward capable of operating on either wing or through the middle. He was previously linked with Borussia Dortmund, but that path appears to have closed.
Reports from Sky Germany indicate Dortmund have stepped away from the chase, a development that could open a clear lane for Liverpool if they decide he is the right fit. El Mala’s reported €50m (£42.7m) release clause gives any suitor a straightforward route to a deal – if they are willing to pay it.
Clock ticking at Anfield
As the transfer deadline looms, Liverpool’s attack remains a live project rather than a finished product.
The club are weighing Mbaye, but not at any cost. They are pushing harder for Barcola, yet constrained by PSG’s demands. They have a second tier of targets across England, France and Germany, each with their own price tags and complications.
The shortlist is long. The time to act is not.
Liverpool have built an era on smart, decisive recruitment in the final days of a window. The question now is whether they lean into the glamour of Paris, or pivot to a less heralded name who might prove just as important when the season reaches its sharp end.
