Fabrizio Romano reports that Liverpool could walk away from talks for Ibrahim Mbaye over concerns surrounding PSG’s asking price, but it will have dire ramifications for their squad-building plans.
“I expect also Liverpool to add one more winger to the squad, especially if Cody Gakpo goes to Tottenham,” Romano told Give Me Sport‘s Market Madness podcast on Thursday.
“Mbaye is one of the names. It’s true. They had conversations with the agent of the player, Jorge Mendes, but at the moment it depends on the valuation.
*I don’t see Liverpool paying €200m (£170m) to Paris Saint-Germain for Barcola and Mbaye. So, the price [needs to] come down for both players, or Barcola top priority and, eventually, Mbaye. But Liverpool also have more options on the list.*”
If Liverpool are going to walk away, they need to act with way more urgency than they have so far
Liverpool have played the patient game this summer, and are still in talks to sign Bradley Barcola, but if they’re going to walk away from a deal for Mbaye, they need to act with a lot more urgency to get a deal done.
?? INFO:
As it stands, Liverpool are unlikely to pursue interest in Ibrahim Mbaye despite exploratory talks, reports @SimonJones_DM
Liverpool have been looking at Ibrahim Mbaye but, as things stand, they are unlikely to pursue their interest in the winger, reports… pic.twitter.com/jL2WJIHqEA
— Anfield Sector (@AnfieldSector) August 18, 2026
The issue now, and the risk they’ve allowed to manifest, is that whichever player they pursue will be a lot more expensive.
Liverpool have now switched attention to Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh (yes, I know he’s injured – someone tell LFC), and Brighton would be well entitled to ask for more than their previous valuation.
This late in the game, clubs have next to no options to sign as alternatives. This is the exact issue which saw a deal to sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace fall through on Deadline Day. Their replacement for Guehi fell through, so they pulled the plug on Liverpool.
If Mbaye is too expensive, whoever they sign now will be more expensive than if they had just signed him earlier in the summer.
Safe to say, no matter how the summer window ends, Liverpool have made a mess of things this summer and fans are right to ask major questions of sporting director Richard Hughes and FSG.