Yankuba Minteh Wants Liverpool Move Now
Yankuba Minteh has told both his representatives and Brighton he wants Liverpool. Not next summer. Now.
Liverpool have already seen two bids knocked back for the 22-year-old winger, but the direction of travel is clear. The player wants Anfield, and Brighton look ready to do what Brighton do best: sell high, reinvest, and move on.
Liverpool push again for Minteh
The Reds are reshaping Andoni Iraola’s forward options and want more spark out wide. Talks with Paris Saint-Germain over Bradley Barcola are ongoing, and Victor Munoz is already through the door, but Liverpool are still chasing a third winger. Minteh is the one they have zeroed in on.
He has been on their radar for a long time. On July 8, transfer reporter Fraser Fletcher revealed Liverpool were preparing a big-money move for the Gambian international. That intent has now turned into concrete offers.
An opening bid of £50m was rejected. A second, worth £60m (€70m, $82m), has also been turned down. Yet this is not a stalemate. Far from it.
Brighton are understood to be seeking around £70m. According to the Daily Mail’s Lewis Steele, posting on X, a deal could be struck at roughly £66m. If that figure proves accurate, Liverpool are effectively one more serious push away from the finish line, just £6m short of an agreement.
For Brighton, that would mean doubling the £33m they paid Newcastle for Minteh two summers ago. A player with 10 goals in 73 appearances turning into a £66m sale fits perfectly with the club’s well-honed trading model.
Brighton already planning for life after Minteh
The signs from the south coast point in one direction: Brighton are braced for Minteh’s departure.
They have already moved to secure a replacement, bringing in Nigerian winger Zadok Yohanna from AIK for £21.5m. That deal did not happen by accident. It slots neatly into the familiar Brighton pattern of succession planning, one sale feeding the next signing.
Head coach Fabian Hurzeler has stopped short of saying Minteh is gone, but his tone tells its own story. Speaking on Friday, he framed potential exits as a natural consequence of Brighton’s success.
“It’s normal if you’re successful as a team, if the team is doing well, has some good achievements, then the individual can shine, and of course, there will be a big ask for our players,” Hurzeler said.
“That’s part of our identity, part of my job here.
“It was clear to everyone that this might happen during a busy transfer window.
“We can go through now every individual player; we all know how important these kinds of players are for me.
“But we also know that good achievements, big achievements, especially in the Premier League, you create offers, you create a lot of attention.
“So we have to wait now; the situation will evolve.
“I’m not here to complain, I’m here to find solutions, and I’m convinced that, together with my players, we will find good solutions.”
That is not a manager fighting to shut the door. It is one preparing the club and the dressing room for the reality of a big sale.
Minteh’s desire to swap the south coast for Merseyside will only accelerate that process. Brighton have never been a club to stand in the way of a player who wants a move, as long as the price is right. Liverpool are edging closer to that number.
Knock-on effect for Liverpool’s wider plans
Liverpool’s aggressive move for Minteh also hints at a change of tack elsewhere. Their pursuit of the Gambian suggests they have stepped back from a potential deal for PSG teenager Ibrahim Mbaye, who had been discussed alongside Barcola.
One journalist has even admitted he “daren’t say” what he believes Mbaye would cost, a sign of just how steep that fee could be. Minteh, by contrast, is expensive but attainable, with a clear path to a deal.
So Liverpool keep pushing. Brighton wait for the final figure. Minteh, already set on Anfield, stands between them.
Who blinks first now: the negotiators in the boardroom, or a club that has built its rise on knowing exactly when to cash in?
