Liverpool's Summer Transfer Strategy: Wingers to Replace Salah
Liverpool’s summer plan is clear and unapologetic: they want wingers who can beat a man, change a game, and replace the fear factor Mohamed Salah carried for years.
They have already made their first big move. Victor Munoz, a 23-year-old FIFA World Cup winner, is in from Osasuna for £34 million. A statement signing, but not the end of the rebuild.
Salah has gone, walking away on a lucrative free transfer to Trabzonspor, and that leaves a hole not just in goals and assists, but in aura. Liverpool know they can’t afford to get this wrong.
Barcola chase sets the tone
Richard Hughes is locked in talks for Bradley Barcola, the Paris Saint-Germain winger valued at a staggering £145m by his club. That figure is nowhere near Liverpool’s comfort zone, and the 2024/25 Premier League champions will try to drag it down before the window shuts on September 1.
Barcola is the headline name, the marquee option. But he’s not the only one.
Minteh moves up the list
While negotiations rumble on in Paris, Liverpool have turned up the heat on another long-term target: Yankuba Minteh.
Two bids have already gone in from Merseyside, at £50m and £60m. Brighton have pushed both away. Their stance is blunt – reports say they want at least £70m, and they are in no rush to compromise.
That resistance has not killed Liverpool’s interest. If anything, it underlines how highly they rate the Gambian winger. Minteh is now firmly in focus as part of the post-Salah reshuffle.
Mbaye deal stalls over PSG demands
The third name in the frame was Ibrahim Mbaye, another PSG wide man and a player who had begun to look like a live option.
The 18-year-old Senegal international was heavily linked with a five-year deal at Anfield last week, with suggestions he had already agreed personal terms. Those claims were quickly knocked back by Liverpool sources, who stressed their interest was only “exploratory”.
Now the picture is even clearer. The move has effectively collapsed over PSG’s demands.
RMC Sport reports that Luis Enrique’s side want €70m (around £60m) to let the homegrown attacker leave. For a teenager still developing, that number has landed badly at Anfield. Liverpool see a player of potential, not a finished article, and the current price does not stack up as value.
Mbaye prefers to play off the right, the very zone Salah has vacated. On paper, the fit looks tempting. In reality, the fee makes it a gamble Andoni Iraola is not prepared to take. He needs someone ready to deliver from day one, not a luxury project at €70m.
RMC states that Liverpool have been put off at that level and would only go as high as around €50m (£43m). The report adds that Mbaye has agreed terms on a future contract with Liverpool, but the club are simply not willing to meet PSG’s valuation – not even €60m – especially with two years left on his current deal and PSG openly indicating he can leave this summer.
The message from Anfield is firm: they will walk away before they overpay.
Barcola and Minteh: the likely solution
Inside the club, the plan is taking shape. Liverpool reporters indicate that Barcola plus one more winger is the intended outcome for this window.
That “one more” increasingly looks like Minteh, not Mbaye.
The renewed focus on the Brighton winger is a strong signal that Liverpool have effectively closed the door on a Mbaye deal at PSG’s price. The hierarchy want one premium addition and one more targeted signing to reshape the flanks, not a scattergun spree.
So the picture sharpens: Barcola as the big swing, Minteh as the complementary piece, Munoz already through the door, and Salah gone.
Liverpool have made their choice. Now the question is whether PSG and Brighton blink before September 1 – or whether the champions are forced to find one last twist in their wide-forward rebuild.
