Liverpool's Pursuit of Barcola and Minteh: A Forward Dilemma

Liverpool’s search for a new right-sided forward is turning into one of the more intriguing subplots of the summer. The name at the top of their list has been clear for weeks: Bradley Barcola. The problem? The deal looks anything but straightforward.

Barcola: The £100m Question

Barcola has spent the summer on the biggest stage of all, part of a France attack that has torn through defences and racked up 16 goals in six World Cup matches. He is jostling with club and country teammate Désiré Doué for a starting spot in Tuesday’s semi-final against Spain, a battle that underlines just how stacked France’s attacking options have become.

Once that campaign ends, the focus will swing back to his club future. Barcola is understood to be open to leaving PSG, concerned by his shrinking minutes under Luis Enrique at a time when the European champions are pushing to bring in Yan Diomande and Maghnes Akliouche. Two more forwards into an already crowded room. Something has to give.

Barcola has parked talks over a new contract, with his current deal running down to two years. That pause alone invites speculation. Yet PSG, for now, are not behaving like a club ready to cash in. Sources insist they will demand a fee above the current British transfer record to even consider a sale. That stance instantly narrows the field.

Liverpool like him. Arsenal love him.

Daily Mail journalist Lewis Steele revealed over the weekend that Arsenal believe they sit at the front of the queue should PSG soften their stance.

“Arsenal seem very hot on Morgan Rogers. Can they afford both of him and Bradley Barcola? I’m not sure,” Steele said, before adding that a contact “around Arsenal” believes the Gunners are “top of the race” for Barcola. The big caveat: no one yet knows if PSG will actually let him go.

Liverpool cannot ignore that kind of financial and competitive weight. They know that, if Barcola is officially put on the market, they would be scrapping with the Premier League champions in a bidding war for a player whose price is already being pushed into record-breaking territory.

That is where Richard Hughes comes in. Liverpool’s sporting director admires Barcola, but he also has to live in the real world. And so the club’s recruitment team has been working down the list.

Enter Yankuba Minteh

The latest name to move from background interest to serious consideration is Yankuba Minteh. According to talkSPORT, Liverpool are now plotting a concrete move for the Brighton winger, a player the club have tracked for some time.

Minteh, 21, is described by those around the game as “lightning quick” and “extremely dangerous” – the sort of profile Liverpool have repeatedly targeted for that right-hand channel. The Gambia international has already been on FSG’s radar since at least June 2024, when his name first emerged as a live option.

He is not the first wide player Liverpool have chased this summer. A move for Yan Diomande has already collapsed, and Minteh is now the third winger to be seriously explored. That alone tells you how determined Liverpool are to refresh the forward line.

Brighton, though, are Brighton. They sell, but only on their terms. From Moisés Caicedo to Alexis Mac Allister, they have built a reputation as elite negotiators who squeeze every last pound out of their assets. Persuading them to part with Minteh, who is rated at around £70m, will not be simple.

Journalist David Lynch, speaking about Liverpool’s wide-forward options – Minteh, Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Said El Mala – made it clear which way he leans.

“I have to say the one I lean towards, and he probably had the least impressive season of the three, actually, is probably Minteh,” Lynch said. “Minteh is probably a better profile fit, obviously a left footer on the right-hand side, with Premier League experience.”

On paper, the numbers do not jump off the page. Minteh registered just seven goal contributions – three goals and four assists – in 34 appearances for Brighton in the 2025/26 season. It is not the sort of output that typically commands a £70m fee.

Lynch, though, believes those figures are misleading.

“He didn’t have a great season last season in terms of output,” he admitted, before pointing to Brighton’s tactical structure. In his view, the way Brighton play “may hamstring him a little bit,” with Minteh often held wide and denied the chance to attack more central, goal-scoring areas.

That is where Liverpool’s interest becomes more than just a scouting note. Under new manager Andoni Iraola, the wide forwards are expected to be aggressive, direct, and constantly attacking the box. It is a system built to inflate numbers for the right profile of winger.

“I think in a kind of Iraola system, I can easily see how his numbers would upscale,” Lynch said. “He also works incredibly hard off the ball. His defensive numbers are great.”

For Liverpool, that two-way intensity matters almost as much as goals. A left-footed right winger who presses, sprints, and tracks back is exactly the sort of player they have built their recent success on.

Barcola Still the Dream

Even so, the ideal scenario has not changed. Lynch made it clear that, for all the talk of alternatives, Barcola remains the standout target.

“I think it’s tough pickings really,” he said of the market beyond Diomande. “That’s why I’m really wedded to the idea that you go and get Barcola if you can. But if they had to move down the list, I think he [Minteh] would be quite high up for me.”

That is the balancing act Liverpool are trying to pull off: hold their nerve for the elite option, without missing the chance to secure the next-best fit if the market hardens around them.

Complicating everything is the looming question over Mohamed Salah’s future. A “shock” new suitor has reportedly entered the race for the Liverpool legend, with Saudi Arabia and Major League Soccer currently viewed as the likeliest destinations if he does leave. Losing Salah would turn the need for a right-sided forward from important to urgent in a heartbeat.

There are other fires to fight as well. Liverpool are facing “complications” in their push to sign a £34m-rated Mexico sensation, with claims that contact has already been made over a deal but no breakthrough yet in sight.

So the picture is clear enough. Barcola is the dream, Minteh the emerging reality, and Salah’s situation the storm cloud hanging over it all.

If Liverpool do move, and move decisively, it will say everything about how they see the next phase of their attack – and how bold they are prepared to be in reshaping it.