Liverpool Intensifies Bid for Yankuba Minteh as Brighton Holds Firm

Liverpool’s chase for Yankuba Minteh has moved from a quiet summer subplot to one of the window’s loudest storylines – and Brighton are making them sweat.

The Reds have twice gone to the table. Twice they’ve been sent away.

What began as background interest in the Gambian winger earlier in the window seemed to cool as Liverpool focused on Bradley Barcola, with Ibrahim Mbaye also on the wider shortlist. But Minteh has surged back into focus in recent days, and Liverpool have tested Brighton’s resolve hard.

First came a £50million offer. Rejected.

Then came the escalation. As Fabrizio Romano revealed, Liverpool returned with a second bid worth £60million – and still Brighton said no.

The twist? The player himself is ready.

Romano reported that Liverpool and Minteh have a “broad verbal agreement” on contract terms, with the winger giving the green light to the “#LFC project.” The personal side is not the problem. The battle now is between the clubs.

Gambian journalist Foday Manneh, who first broke the news of the second rejection, underlined the current state of play: both sides remain hopeful of striking a deal and talks are ongoing, despite Brighton knocking back the £60m offer after already dismissing the opening £50m bid.

So Liverpool know where they stand. If they really want Minteh, they’ll have to go harder still. How hard, nobody’s quite sure anymore.

Only days ago, it sounded as if £60m might be enough. Ben Jacobs suggested Liverpool were weighing up whether to return with that figure, saying that if the bid “hit around £60m,” it would be “very difficult” for Brighton to refuse. The south-coast club have answered that theory emphatically.

Jacobs also lifted the lid on Liverpool’s wider thinking out wide. Minteh has been on the list “for some time,” but Barcola is viewed as the primary target – the “must-get” if there’s any way to pull it off. Behind him, there is a cluster of three or four other options Liverpool have enquired about and even bid for, with Minteh sitting firmly in that group.

Yet for all the planning and prioritising, the market has its own ideas. If Liverpool thought Minteh might be a smoother, more attainable alternative to Barcola, Brighton have just shattered that illusion.

Talks will continue. A third bid is expected. The number on that offer remains under wraps, but one thing is clear: Liverpool are deep enough into this pursuit now that turning back would be as revealing as going all in.

Do they push again and pay Brighton’s price, or walk away and risk watching a willing target line up somewhere else?