Liverpool's Pursuit of Mbaye at Risk of Collapse
Liverpool’s chase for PSG forward Mbaye is threatening to collapse at the worst possible moment.
With less than ten days left in the summer window, the Senegalese winger has grown weary of the saga and is now ready to listen to other clubs, according to L’Equipe. He is said to believe Liverpool have dragged negotiations out for too long, turning what looked like a straightforward move into a draining stand-off.
At the heart of the stalemate lies money. A lot of it.
Liverpool and PSG are separated by a reported €20 million in their valuations of the 22-year-old, a gulf that has frozen talks and left the player caught in the middle. PSG have refused to budge from their asking price. Liverpool, for now, have refused to meet it. Until someone moves, nothing happens.
The delay is not just a financial problem anymore. It is becoming an emotional one. Mbaye’s frustration with the length of the process is now a genuine threat to the deal, with the youngster “completely open” to alternative destinations. Team-mate Bradley Barcola is understood to share some irritation over the slow progress around potential exits from Paris.
All of this lands at a brutal time for Liverpool.
Mohamed Salah has gone. The club’s talisman, their guarantee of goals from the right, has left a hole that no one at Anfield has yet come close to filling. The squad has also been stripped of Curtis Jones, Ibrahima Konate and Andrew Robertson this summer, further eroding both depth and experience.
Andoni Iraola walked into that storm after Arne Slot was sacked on the back of a miserable 2025-26 campaign. He has not been idle. Victor Munoz, Jeremy Jacquet and Barcelona loanee Ronald Araujo have arrived, adding steel and structure. What Liverpool still lack is the kind of statement attacking signing that changes the mood of a club.
The search has been bruising. A €50m offer for Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh was knocked back, a firm reminder of how expensive wide forwards have become. At the same time, Cody Gakpo is being heavily linked with a quick move to Tottenham Hotspur, threatening to thin Iraola’s options even further.
Strip away the names and the picture is stark: if Liverpool fail to land Mbaye, Barcola or Minteh, Iraola could be left with some of the leanest winger resources in the Premier League. For a club that built its modern identity on relentless wide attacking, that is a jarring prospect.
The timing only sharpens the edge. The clock is ticking on the window, the first game of the 2026-27 season is looming, and Liverpool must open away at Newcastle at St James’ Park on Sunday. Iraola’s side will walk into one of the league’s most hostile arenas with a frontline still very much under construction.
The message from Mbaye’s camp is clear: he is tired of waiting. The next move belongs to Liverpool and PSG. Will either blink before the window slams shut?
