Liverpool's Pursuit of Barcola and Minteh After Salah Departure

Liverpool’s summer brief is brutally simple: add elite one-v-one threat out wide and rebuild an attack that has just lost Mohamed Salah.

The first piece is already in place. Victor Munoz, a 23-year-old FIFA World Cup winner, has arrived from Osasuna in a £34 million deal, a statement signing for a side that finished the 2024/25 campaign as Premier League champions. But Salah’s free-transfer switch to Trabzonspor has ripped a hole on the right, and Liverpool’s recruitment team know one signing will not be enough.

Barcola chase sets the tone

Richard Hughes has put Bradley Barcola at the top of the list. Liverpool are deep in the hunt for the Paris Saint-Germain winger, though PSG’s valuation of £145 million is eye-watering even for a title-winning English club.

Liverpool want that number down. The window runs until September 1, and they are prepared to wait, haggle and lean on the player’s situation if they have to. The idea is clear: Barcola as the headline act in a revamped wide unit.

Minteh moves up the agenda

While talks around Barcola rumble on, another file has moved to the front of the drawer: Yankuba Minteh.

Liverpool have already tested Brighton’s resolve twice, with bids of £50 million and £60 million. Brighton, true to type, are standing firm. Reports suggest they will not entertain anything below £70 million for the Gambian winger, a stance that has not yet scared Liverpool away.

Minteh has long been admired at Anfield. His profile fits the brief – direct, aggressive, capable of beating a man – and with Salah gone, the need for someone who can attack full-backs from the first whistle is obvious.

Mbaye deal stalls over price

For a moment, it looked as if Ibrahim Mbaye might be another key piece of the puzzle.

The 18-year-old PSG winger, a Senegal international, was heavily linked with Liverpool last week. Reports claimed he had already agreed personal terms on a five-year contract at Anfield. Those claims were quickly knocked back by club sources, who insisted the interest was only “exploratory”.

Now the picture is even clearer: the deal has effectively collapsed on price.

RMC Sport report that PSG want around €70 million (£60 million) to let their homegrown attacker leave. Liverpool do not see value at that level for a player still very much in the development phase, even if he already has multiple titles to his name. At that figure, they would be paying almost entirely for potential.

Mbaye prefers to operate off the right – exactly where Salah has left a vacancy – but that positional fit is not enough to convince Liverpool to gamble at PSG’s number. Andoni Iraola, stepping into a dressing room that expects to challenge again, needs players who can deliver immediately, not just in three years’ time.

RMC state that Liverpool have been put off by the €70 million demand and internally rate Mbaye closer to €50 million (£43 million). The report adds that the player has agreed terms on a future contract, yet Liverpool are “not prepared to invest €70 million” and are “unwilling to even go as high as €60 million”, despite PSG making it clear he is available and has two years left on his deal.

The message from Anfield is blunt: at that price, they walk away.

Focus narrows: Barcola and one more

Inside Liverpool, the plan for the winger reshuffle is becoming sharper. Club reporters indicate that Barcola plus one more wide signing is the blueprint for the remainder of the window.

That “one more” increasingly looks like Minteh, not Mbaye.

With the Mbaye talks effectively frozen by PSG’s valuation, Liverpool’s focus on the Brighton winger signals the likely end of that particular pursuit. The champions want proven impact with upside, not a speculative outlay that could choke the rest of their business.

If Barcola can be prised from Paris and Minteh wrestled from Brighton’s grip, Liverpool’s wide options will look very different by September. The question now is whether their financial resolve will hold as firmly as their tactical vision.