Valencia have raised the release clause of one of their forwards to €60m after Liverpool were prepared to activate the previous clause
Valencia corner flag
Valencia corner flag
Liverpool’s attacking rebuild this year has been extensive, but one position has proven stubbornly difficult to fill.
Bradley Barcola’s £123 million arrival from Paris Saint-Germain in August strengthened the left side of Andoni Iraola’s forward line, yet it did nothing to solve the problem on the right.
That gap opened when Mohamed Salah left Anfield as a free agent in August, signing a two-year deal with Turkish side Trabzonspor after terminating his contract a year early.
Victor Munoz, signed from Osasuna for £34.5 million has offered competition on the right alongside Gakpo and Rio Ngumoha.
Liverpool’s search for a genuine right-wing option ran into repeated obstacles over the summer.
Two bids for Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh, reported at £50 million and £60 million, were turned down, with Brighton holding out for £80 million and the move eventually collapsing.
A separate £50 million offer for Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr was also rejected, with Palace chairman Steve Parish saying the move was “never going to happen” because of the gap in valuation between the two clubs.
With both pursuits unsuccessful and the right wing still short of a long-term solution, Liverpool’s recruitment staff have continued to track options for January and next summer.
One of those names is further down the development curve than Minteh or Sarr, but has moved quickly up Liverpool’s list of interests in recent weeks.
According to Tribuna Deportiva, Liverpool this week informed Valencia CF and the entourage of 19-year-old winger David Otorbi that the club was prepared to pay the €30 million release clause in his contract.
Valencia responded immediately.
The Spanish club activated the three-year extension option already written into Otorbi’s deal, a mechanism that required him to make ten first-team appearances of at least 45 minutes.
Valencia judged that condition close enough to being met and triggered it regardless, tying the player to Mestalla until 2031.
As part of the same move, his release clause has doubled, from €30 million to €60 million.
Otorbi, born in Valencia’s El Cabanyal neighbourhood to Nigerian parents, has been with the club’s academy since 2019.
He became Valencia’s youngest-ever debutant on 7 January 2024, appearing in a Copa del Rey tie against Cartagena at 16 years, two months and 19 days old, and later broke the club’s La Liga debut record too, coming on against Barcelona in August 2024 aged 16 years and 306 days.
His breakthrough into Javier Aguirre’s first-team plans has been recent. Otorbi scored his first senior goal on 11 October, seven minutes after coming on as a substitute in a 2-2 draw away at Racing Santander, and has since been given further first-team minutes, including an appearance against Athletic Club.
His agent, Nacho Gallart, told Radio Marca on 13 October that several English clubs had made contact over the player’s situation, but said Otorbi’s priority remained playing time at Valencia under Aguirre.
Newcastle United had also been credited with scouting interest in recent weeks.
Liverpool already have a working relationship with Valencia through Harvey Elliott, who joined the Spanish club on loan this season.
Whether that connection plays any part in a future move for Otorbi remains to be seen, but the doubling of his release clause significantly raises the cost of pursuing him, whether in January or next summer.
➕ℹ️ @TribunaVCF
🏴 El 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐥 comunicó esta semana al VCF y al entorno del jugador que quería PAGAR LA CLÁUSULA de 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐃 𝐎𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐈 de 30M
📑 El VCF se mueve rápido desde ese momento y ejecuta el +3 del contrato y sube la cláusula a 60M https://t.co/1GrLFPetFh
— Tribuna Deportiva (@TribunaVCF) October 23, 2026
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