Liverpool Target PSG Starlet Ibrahim Mbaye as Barcola Deal Stalls

Liverpool’s post-Mohamed Salah rebuild is starting to take shape – and the first major attacking addition may not be the name most people expected.

For weeks, Bradley Barcola has sat at the top of Liverpool’s wishlist, the elegant Paris Saint-Germain winger earmarked as a marquee successor to Salah after the Egyptian’s departure ended a nine-year Anfield era. Yet while negotiations for Barcola drag on, another PSG talent is moving rapidly towards the exit door.

According to RMC Sport, Liverpool are now expected to reach an agreement for Senegalese striker Ibrahim Mbaye, with talks described as progressing towards a deal.

A “historic” PSG clear-out

This is not a normal summer in Paris. PSG have already banked close to €150 million in sales, with Kang-in Lee joining Atletico Madrid, Goncalo Ramos heading to Milan and Randal Kolo Muani signing for Juventus. Inside the club, the mood has been framed as “historic” in terms of outgoing business – and Mbaye looks increasingly likely to be the next big name to go.

The 18-year-old has two years left on his contract and is regarded as one of the brightest young forwards in French football. But the path to regular minutes under Luis Enrique is clogged. PSG are still chasing an A-list attacker, with Julian Alvarez and Yan Diomande both heavily linked earlier in the window, and competition for places in the front line is already fierce.

For a teenager trying to break through, the message is clear: if you want to play now, you may have to leave.

Liverpool vs Leverkusen for Mbaye

That message has not gone unnoticed. Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen are locked in a fight for Mbaye’s signature, with the forward valued between €35m and €45m.

The picture, though, is far from straightforward. Canal+ journalist Olivier Tallaron has claimed on X that Leverkusen currently hold the edge over Liverpool in the race, suggesting the Bundesliga champions are pushing hard and are well-placed at this stage.

RMC Sport paint a different landscape. Their reporting indicates that Mbaye is attracted by the idea of developing on Merseyside, drawn by the Premier League stage and the chance to grow into a central attacking role in a side being reshaped after Salah.

Two heavyweight projects. One teenage striker. A decision that could define the next phase of his career.

Barcola deal stuck in the mud

All of this unfolds against the backdrop of the Barcola pursuit, which has become a separate saga of its own.

FourFourTwo understands that Liverpool’s move for Mbaye is not a Plan B and not a direct alternative to Barcola. The club view them as different profiles: Barcola primarily a left-winger, Mbaye more naturally operating from the right, though both can switch flanks and play through the middle.

That distinction matters, because the Barcola talks are stuck. RMC Sport report that Liverpool and PSG remain “far apart” in their valuations of the French international.

PSG have set the asking price at over €150 million. Liverpool, still determined not to rip up their wage and fee structure even in the wake of Salah’s exit, have no interest in smashing their financial model for one player. As RMC put it, a compromise will have to be found if the deal is to happen at all.

Right now, that compromise looks distant.

Fitting the pieces around Liverpool’s new attack

While the numbers are argued over in Paris, the tactical puzzle at Liverpool is already complex.

New signing Victor Munoz, Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike all offer options on the left, as central forwards, or as support strikers. Each can drift, rotate, and occupy different zones across the front line.

Who actually nails down the left side? Who leads the line? Who drops in behind? Those questions remain unanswered.

The right flank is even more intriguing. Mbaye, if he arrives, would be a natural fit there, but he would not be alone. Jeremie Frimpong and Dominik Szoboszlai both operated from that side last season, offering very different interpretations of the role – Frimpong with his explosive, direct running, Szoboszlai with craft and creativity from deeper positions.

Andoni Iraola, during his time at Bournemouth, showed little interest in sticking rigidly to the old convention of inverted wingers. He was happy to field a right-footed right-winger or a left-footer on the left, using Alex Jimenez on the right for long stretches before Marcus Tavernier established himself on the left late in the campaign. That flexibility is likely to carry over.

In that context, Mbaye’s versatility – comfortable on either wing and capable of playing through the middle – fits the profile of a fluid, interchanging front line rather than a fixed “Salah replacement” in name and role.

A new Liverpool front line taking shape

So the picture is this: a PSG academy starlet, priced at €35–45m, tempted by Liverpool but courted hard by Leverkusen; a separate, far more expensive chase for Barcola that currently sits on financial quicksand; and a Liverpool attack in flux, rich in talent but still searching for its new hierarchy.

One deal looks close. Another hangs in the balance.

If Mbaye chooses Anfield over the Bundesliga champions, he won’t just be stepping into a squad. He’ll be stepping into a vacancy on the right of one of Europe’s most demanding front lines, at the very moment Liverpool are rewriting what that attack looks like without Salah.