Liverpool's Pursuit of Barcola and Mbaye: Transfer Update
Liverpool’s winger rebuild is accelerating – but Paris Saint-Germain are making sure it won’t be cheap, and Ibrahim Mbaye may end up the odd man out.
Liverpool push hard for Barcola
Liverpool have opened talks with PSG for both Mbaye and Bradley Barcola, agreeing personal terms with the pair, but the two negotiations are moving at very different speeds.
Inside the French champions’ offices, Barcola is the name circled in red. PSG initially slapped a staggering €170m price tag on the Frenchman, then dropped it to €145m, and now to around €125m. Liverpool have already tested the waters with an offer of €115m (around £98m) and are prepared to climb towards €120m to get their man.
On RMC Sport’s After Foot podcast, Fabrice Hawkins outlined just how advanced the Barcola chase has become. Barcola has told PSG he wants to join Liverpool. The club, Hawkins said, have accepted that stance and have “no intention” of keeping him, with only the fee blocking the exit.
Liverpool have made several verbal offers and are now weighing up a decisive written bid. The expectation around the deal, according to Hawkins, is that the next formal proposal could be the one that finally forces an agreement, likely in the €130m–€150m bracket, but not dipping below €120m.
Everyone close to the talks, Hawkins reported, believes a compromise will be found.
Mbaye deal stalls as price bites
Mbaye’s situation is more tangled.
The forward has, as Hawkins revealed, a contractual agreement in place with Liverpool. The player is ready. The problem is the price.
PSG are demanding a substantial fee, understood to be in the £43–50m range. Liverpool rate Mbaye closer to £30m and are refusing, for now, to bridge that gap. With Barcola already established as their top priority, the Merseyside club are pushing hardest where they feel the deal is most likely to land.
Hawkins admitted he would not publicly state the exact figure PSG are asking for Mbaye without full confirmation, underlining how sensitive the talks have become. What is clear is that, while negotiations for Mbaye are still alive, they are “a little bit more problematic” than those for Barcola.
Liverpool are effectively trying to walk two tightropes at once: hammer out a mega-deal for Barcola, then see if there is still room – and money – to move on Mbaye at a price they consider fair.
Minteh emerges as a rival priority
Just as Mbaye’s path to Anfield has started to cloud, another name has surged forward.
According to Lewis Steele of the Daily Mail, Liverpool have now decided to prioritise a move for Brighton winger Yankuba Minteh over Mbaye. The club have already seen a £50m bid rejected but are preparing a new offer, convinced the 19-year-old can be a major part of their next attacking cycle.
The shift does not change the top line of Liverpool’s summer strategy. Barcola remains their No 1 winger target, even with Minteh talks advancing. The plan, as it stands, is ambitious: land both Barcola and Minteh and overhaul the wide options in a single window.
That leaves Mbaye in a precarious spot. He has an agreement with Liverpool but faces a club unwilling to meet PSG’s demands and a market where Anfield’s attention is drifting elsewhere.
PSG, for their part, have already moved on, adding Maghnes Akliouche and Mika Godts to an already crowded forward line. Mbaye and Barcola both want out. Liverpool are ready to be the escape route – but only at their price.
If they pull off Barcola and Minteh together, the shape of Liverpool’s attack for the next five years could be decided in a handful of tense phone calls.
