Ibrahim Mbaye Rejects Aston Villa for Liverpool or City Move

Aston Villa have been knocked back in their bid to land highly rated Paris Saint-Germain forward Ibrahim Mbaye, with the teenager’s camp now pushing for a move to Liverpool or Manchester City.

The 18-year-old, already capped 15 times by Senegal, had been in talks over a switch to Villa Park. Those discussions have cooled sharply. Mbaye and his representatives no longer see Villa as the right stage; they want the bright lights and the biggest prizes.

For them, that means Anfield or the Etihad.

Liverpool’s wide rebuild – and a €170m headache

Liverpool are already deep into an ambitious reshaping of their attack. Bradley Barcola is the headline target for the flanks, and the pursuit is aggressive.

Barcola, a France international, sits at the very top of Liverpool’s winger shortlist. PSG have slapped a huge €170m (£145m) valuation on him. That figure will not be met without a fight. According to Ben Jacobs, Liverpool and Barcola’s camp will try to drag that price down, and the player is understood to be keen on the move.

The need is obvious. Mohamed Salah has gone. Federico Chiesa has a genuine chance of following him out of the door. If Chiesa leaves, Liverpool’s wide options boil down to Rio Ngumoha, Cody Gakpo and Victor Munoz, with Barcola still only a possibility rather than a certainty.

That gap on the depth chart leaves room for another winger, and this is where Mbaye’s name has entered the conversation.

Mbaye’s rise in a crowded PSG attack

Mbaye is no fringe prospect. Last season he made 31 appearances for PSG, an impressive return for an 18-year-old in an attack stacked with star power.

Luis Enrique had Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue and Barcola to call upon in the forward areas, with Goncalo Ramos and Lee Kang-In also available before their respective moves to AC Milan and Atletico Madrid. Mbaye still found minutes in that company.

Right-footed and primarily used on the right flank during the 2025/26 campaign, he showed enough to convince his camp that he is ready for a bigger role, not just sporadic cameos.

Yet the competition in Paris is only intensifying. PSG are planning to add Maghnes Akliouche from Monaco into the mix, another talented attacker crowding Mbaye’s pathway. That looming arrival has sharpened minds around the player.

According to TEAMtalk, Mbaye’s representatives now believe that leaving PSG offers the best route for his development and long-term career. The teenager wants to play, not wait.

Villa rejected, elite stage preferred

Aston Villa moved first. Talks were held, a deal explored, and on paper it made sense: a Champions League club in the Premier League, a manager willing to trust young talent, and a clear route to regular minutes.

Mbaye’s camp have decided otherwise. The project at Villa Park is not enough. They want a club that consistently competes for – and wins – the game’s biggest honours.

So the focus has shifted. Mbaye has been formally offered to Liverpool and Manchester City, two clubs that have dominated English football in recent years and expect to go deep in the Champions League every season.

Graeme Bailey reports that both City and Liverpool hold an interest in the PSG forward. He also makes one crucial point: Mbaye is not at the top of either club’s list.

Barcola first, Mbaye as the extra piece?

For Liverpool, Barcola remains the priority. Everything else is secondary. If they can land the Frenchman, Mbaye would be viewed as an additional signing rather than an alternative.

Any move for Mbaye would likely depend on further outgoings in wide areas, with Chiesa the obvious candidate to make space and raise funds. Without that, stacking yet another winger on the books becomes a more complicated call.

City, too, are monitoring, but not driving the deal. Their interest is real, not urgent.

So Mbaye waits. He has turned down a clear path at Aston Villa in the belief that he belongs at the very top of the game. Now it falls to Liverpool and Manchester City to decide whether they see the same future in the young Senegalese forward – and how much they are prepared to reshape their own plans to make room for him.