Liverpool have spent much of the past week locked in talks with Brighton over a move for Yankuba Minteh.
The Reds have been chasing a new winger to operate on the right flank following Mohamed Salah’s departure for Trabzonspor.
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Two bids have already been turned down by Brighton this month. An opening £50m offer was rejected, and a second proposal worth £60m met the same fate days later, according to Sky Sports.
Ben Jacobs then reported on Tuesday evening that Brighton had raised their valuation of the 22-year-old to £80m.
That figure is well above what Liverpool had been prepared to offer, with their £60m bid regarded internally as a fair and competitive proposal.
Minteh has made 73 appearances for Brighton since joining from Newcastle, scoring 10 goals and providing nine assists over two seasons on the south coast. He is currently out injured and not expected to return to full fitness until around October.
Fabrizio Romano has now confirmed via his YouTube channel that talks between the two clubs have stalled and the deal is considered off for now.
“Liverpool had two bids rejected for Yankuba Minteh. The first was weeks ago, not a few days ago, the second one was actually a few days ago, rejected by Brighton, around £60 million.
“But Liverpool communicated to the agents of the player and to Brighton that they are not going to send any other proposal for Liverpool.
“The Yankuba Minteh deal as of today has to be considered off. Then we will see if Liverpool will reactivate the option later on or maybe in the future. We will see. But as of today, Liverpool consider the Yankuba Minteh story off because of Brighton asking £80 million, but also because they started focusing on different options.”
“So I always told you Minteh is a target. Yes, but Liverpool have more names on their shortlist and so let’s follow the situation. But for Liverpool it is not only Yankuba Minteh and it’s open to more.”
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