Liverpool learn fee needed to sign Yankuba Minteh as Ibrahim Mbaye snubbed
Liverpool will need to raise their bid for Yankuba Minteh from £50million to £60m to strike an agreement with Brighton, according to Ben Jacobs.
On Thursday, David Ornstein revealed Liverpool had made a move to sign Minteh amid their desire to land two more wingers after Victor Munoz. Ornstein wrote on X/Twitter: ‘Liverpool made offer in recent days to sign Yankuba Minteh from Brighton & Hove Albion.
’22yo #BHAFC winger currently injured but among #LFC options for wide attacking areas – bid worth £50m turned down.’
The Athletic’s Andy Naylor, who specialises in covering Brighton, added that Minteh to Liverpool ‘will probably end up happening’ as their £50m bid is ‘not that far away from making sense’ for Brighton.
Lewis Steele and Simon Jones of the Daily Mail then reported that Liverpool ‘are expected to make an improved offer’ for Minteh.
Andoni Iraola’s side see Paris Saint-Germain right winger Ibrahim Mbaye as ‘too expensive’ and have instead decided to move for Minteh alongside Bradley Barcola.
READ: Is anyone else ‘mystified’ by Liverpool positivity as raft of Iraola issues listed?
Jacobs has now told talkSPORT that £60m should be enough for the Reds to snare Minteh.
“Yankuba Minteh has been a target for some time,” he said. “But I don’t sense that it’s definitively Minteh and Barcola as 1 and 2. Although the other way round, of course.
“I think it’s more Barcola as number 1 – a must-get if they possibly can, and then there are 3 or 4 other options that Liverpool have enquired about and bid on.
“Liverpool are now working with Andoni Iraola to assess whether it’s worth going in with a second bid for Minteh. If they hit around £60m, I think that would be a very difficult offer for Brighton to turn down.”
Our colleagues at TEAMtalk confirmed on Thursday that Liverpool still view Barcola as their top target even after moving for Minteh. They aim to sign the two wingers to improve both flanks for Iraola.
Liverpool have cooled on Mbaye after PSG quoted them at £43-50m for the Senegal international. Liverpool only want to pay £30m for him.
The Reds are far more willing to splash out a big fee on Barcola, seeing him as an elite option to elevate their attack.
Liverpool have put €115m (£98m) on the table for Barcola and would be open to a deal worth up to £120m. PSG, however, want £125m or more for the France international.
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