Liverpool Targets PSG Starlet Ibrahim Mbaye as Iraola Reshapes Attack
Liverpool have moved to the front of the queue for Paris Saint-Germain teenager Ibrahim Mbaye, sounding out the conditions of a deal for the highly-rated winger as Andoni Iraola begins to redraw the attacking map at Anfield.
The 18-year-old, who operates mainly off the right, is understood to be keen on a move to Merseyside. For a club still adjusting to life after Mohamed Salah, that interest feels timely, and significant.
Iraola’s blueprint: five wingers, one future project
Under Iraola, Liverpool’s wide players are not decoration. They are the engine. His philosophy leans heavily on aggressive, high-tempo wing play, and the recruitment strategy in this first window reflects that with absolute clarity.
Liverpool are planning to finish the window with five wingers in the squad. One of them, crucially, is expected to be a younger player earmarked for development rather than instant stardom. Mbaye fits that brief almost perfectly.
Victor Munoz has already arrived at Anfield this summer, adding one piece to the puzzle. Mbaye is another name firmly on the list, part of a targeted effort to refresh the flanks rather than a scattergun trawl through Europe’s academies.
Mbaye and Barcola: two targets, separate stories
Liverpool’s interest in Mbaye runs alongside a strong admiration for his PSG team-mate Bradley Barcola. Both are on the radar. Neither has yet attracted a formal bid.
The two pursuits, though, are not linked. Liverpool’s move for Mbaye is described as completely independent of any potential push for Barcola. This is not a case of “one or the other”.
Could they sign both? It is possible. But the numbers matter. PSG’s £145m valuation of Barcola turns that particular chase into a far more complicated operation, especially in the same summer Liverpool look to deepen their options across the front line.
Mbaye, by contrast, offers a different profile: a player for now and for later, one who can grow into a major role rather than arriving as the finished article on a blockbuster fee.
From Paris prodigy to World Cup history-maker
Mbaye’s rise has been rapid. He came through the PSG academy, making his senior debut in August 2024 as a 16-year-old, a clear marker of how highly the French champions rate him.
Internationally, his path has been just as striking. Having represented France at youth level, he chose Senegal and made his senior debut in November 2025. Within a year, he had written his name into World Cup history.
At the 2026 World Cup, Mbaye became the youngest African to score in the tournament, finding the net at 18 years and 143 days in Senegal’s 3-1 defeat to France. The result went against him. The moment did not. On the biggest stage, against the country of his youth career, he delivered.
That blend of fearlessness and pedigree is exactly what attracts elite clubs. Liverpool are not alone in tracking him, but they are among the first to actively explore what it would take to bring him to England.
Life after Salah and the battle for the right flank
Salah’s departure at the end of last season left a void that cannot be filled by one signing alone. Goals, assists, aura, gravity – Liverpool have lost a player who bent games to his will from the right touchline.
Iraola is not trying to clone Salah. Instead, he wants layers: multiple wide options, different ages, different skill sets, all capable of maintaining intensity and threat across a long season.
The right wing, in particular, is an area Liverpool have been eager to reinforce. Mbaye’s natural starting position on that side, combined with his potential to develop under a demanding, front-foot coach, makes him a compelling candidate for the next phase of the rebuild.
For now, the talks remain exploratory. No offers, no medicals, no unveiling. Just a clear sense of interest from Liverpool and a teenager who is open to the idea of Anfield as his next stage.
If the deal happens, Mbaye would not arrive as the star of the show. He would arrive as part of a new cast, asked to grow into the role rather than own it from day one.
The question is simple: in a Liverpool side being reshaped around relentless, high-energy wing play, how quickly could the youngest African goalscorer in World Cup history turn promise into power on the Premier League stage?
