Liverpool's Winger Rebuild: Mbaye's Future in Jeopardy
Liverpool’s winger rebuild is starting to take shape – and it may be bad news for Ibrahim Mbaye.
The Premier League club are deep in negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain over Bradley Barcola, while also pushing hard for Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh, leaving Mbaye increasingly on the fringes of their plans despite having an agreement in place with the player.
PSG’s price for Mbaye sparks stand-off
Both Mbaye and Barcola are ready to leave PSG after the Champions League holders crowded their attacking line with Maghnes Akliouche and Mika Godts. Liverpool have moved quickly, opening talks with PSG for the pair and striking personal terms with both forwards.
That is where the easy part ends.
PSG are demanding between £43m and £50m for Mbaye. Liverpool value him closer to £30m. The gap is significant, and for now, it is blocking any breakthrough.
Speaking on the After Foot podcast, RMC Sport journalist Fabrice Hawkins underlined just how delicate the situation has become.
“I don’t dare say the price being asked by Paris Saint-Germain, firstly because I haven’t had confirmation, and when I do get confirmation, I will write it,” he said, refusing to nail down a definitive figure.
What he did make clear is that Mbaye’s side of the deal is tied up.
“Ibrahim Mbaye has a contractual agreement with Liverpool. 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’s the feeling amongst everyone in the deal. 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, contract in hand, while the clubs wrestle over numbers and Liverpool’s attention drifts elsewhere.
Barcola: Liverpool’s top target, PSG’s shrinking valuation
If Mbaye is stuck in limbo, Barcola is front and centre.
Liverpool have made the Frenchman their priority wide target. PSG know it, the player knows it, and the market knows it.
Barcola has already told PSG he wants to join Liverpool, and the French champions have accepted his stance. There is, Hawkins says, “no intention to keep Bradley Barcola.”
The issue is the fee. It always is.
PSG’s initial stance bordered on the outrageous: a €170m price tag. That has since fallen, with their internal valuation dropping to €145m and then €125m. Liverpool have already tested the waters with an offer of €115m (around £98m) and are prepared to edge that up towards €120m.
Hawkins expects the next move to be decisive.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
The pressure is building towards that formal bid. When it lands, Liverpool expect it to end the saga.
Minteh move pushes Mbaye further down the list
Just as Mbaye’s prospects with Liverpool looked complicated, they became even more so.
According to Lewis Steele of the Daily Mail, Liverpool have now chosen to prioritise a deal for Brighton winger Yankuba Minteh over Mbaye. The club have already seen a £50m bid rejected and are preparing a new offer.
Liverpool’s interest in Minteh does not change the hierarchy at the very top of their list – Barcola remains the prime target on the flanks, even as talks continue with Brighton. The plan, as it stands, is ambitious: land Barcola and Minteh in the same window and overhaul the wide options in one aggressive swing.
That dual pursuit leaves Mbaye in a precarious spot. He has Liverpool’s word on personal terms, but not their full focus. PSG want more than Liverpool are prepared to pay. Negotiations are “still ongoing,” as Hawkins put it, yet the momentum is clearly flowing elsewhere.
If Liverpool do pull off Barcola and Minteh, the question will not be what Mbaye costs.
It will be whether there is any room left for him at all.
