Liverpool's Winger Dilemma: Minteh vs. Mbaye

Liverpool are staring at a defining call in the final days of the window. Push past £70million for Yankuba Minteh, or walk away and accept that Mohamed Salah’s long-term heir is still to be found.

Right now, there is no like-for-like replacement for Salah in Andoni Iraola’s squad. Victor Munoz has arrived and already made an impact – he won a penalty in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle on his debut – but Liverpool’s recruitment team have been working under the assumption that one winger is not enough. Two wide forwards have been on the agenda, and the shortlist has been clear for weeks: Bradley Barcola, Ibrahim Mbaye and Minteh.

Minteh chase hits the crunch point

Minteh is the one that will not go away. Brighton have already rejected two Liverpool bids, worth £50million and £60million. The message from the south coast is blunt: it will take north of £70million to get the Gambian out of the Amex.

Ben Jacobs has detailed “fresh talks” between the clubs, with Liverpool weighing up whether to go again. The numbers are stark. Minteh has 17 Premier League goal contributions to his name. The fee being discussed belongs in the bracket usually reserved for finished products, not a winger still in the early stages of his top-flight career.

And yet this is the context: Liverpool are trying to find someone who can eventually fill the void left by arguably the greatest player in the club’s modern history. That reality inflates prices, raises expectations and sharpens the risk.

The question now is simple and brutal. Do Liverpool see Minteh as that level of cornerstone, or just as a very good winger at a very high price?

Mbaye deal stalls as Liverpool walk away from PSG demands

If Minteh is the big swing, Ibrahim Mbaye is fast becoming the one that got too expensive. The Paris Saint-Germain forward has been on Liverpool’s radar all summer, talks have taken place, and his profile fits the brief. But the European champions are in no mood to sell on the cheap.

Fabrizio Romano has made Liverpool’s stance clear. Speaking on YouTube, he said: “For Ibrahim Mbaye, appreciated, yes, talks, yes, but other clubs could jump on the opportunity because Liverpool at the moment considered Paris Saint-Germain’s price too high for Ibrahim Mbaye.”

Reports elsewhere put PSG’s starting price at around €70million (£60m). That figure has not only cooled Liverpool’s interest; it has also discouraged other suitors. For now, Mbaye sits in that familiar modern transfer limbo: admired, discussed, but ultimately parked because the numbers do not add up.

So Liverpool’s winger hunt tightens. One target too costly for their liking, another edging towards the same territory. The clock keeps ticking.

Three elite midfielders passed over

While the focus has been on the flanks, an equally bold decision has been taken in the middle of the pitch. Curtis Jones has gone to Inter Milan, and Liverpool have chosen not to bring in a direct replacement.

That was not the original plan. TEAMtalk insider Graeme Bailey has revealed that before pre-season, Iraola, fully aware of the Jones situation, was uneasy about the depth in midfield. He wanted Jones to stay and, failing that, wanted work done on alternatives.

Liverpool did their homework. According to Bailey, the club assessed situations around Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes. All three are established, high-level midfielders, but for various reasons – price, availability, fit – none of them progressed.

The recruitment team then turned their attention to some of the most highly rated young midfielders in Europe. Adam Wharton, Alex Scott and Lamine Camara were all looked at closely. Liverpool liked what they saw and heard. The problem again? Cost. Bailey says deals for those players were landing in the £50million, £60million and even £70million-plus range.

Liverpool stepped back. The market, once more, was demanding elite money for potential rather than guarantees.

Nyoni changes the plan

Then Trey Nyoni walked through the door and ripped up the script.

The Liverpool youngster has stunned Iraola since coming into the senior picture. Bailey says Nyoni has “blown Iraola away”, and inside the club there is a firm belief he is already first-team ready.

That internal conviction has shifted the transfer strategy. Rather than forcing through a big-money midfield signing, Liverpool now see Nyoni as part of a core group that can carry them through the season: Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Nyoni, with Wataru Endo still in the mix as well.

In an era when most top clubs reach for the chequebook at the first sign of a gap, Liverpool have chosen to trust a teenager and the structure around him.

So the picture is clear. In midfield, they are backing what they have. Out wide, they are still searching for the right deal at the right price. Whether that ends with Minteh, another late target, or a roll of the dice on what is already in the building will go a long way to defining how Iraola’s first season at Anfield is judged.