Liverpool's Mendes Contact Over Mbaye Shows They're Hedging Their Post-Salah Bet

Liverpool have made direct contact with super-agent Jorge Mendes over a move for Paris Saint-Germain teenager Ibrahim Mbaye, with the 18-year-old already understood to have given personal approval for a switch to Anfield. That's the headline detail in a story that reveals far more about Liverpool's summer than a single transfer target ever could.

According to CaughtOffside, Liverpool are pursuing Mbaye alongside, not instead of, their long-running interest in Bradley Barcola. Both play on the right. Both are viewed as ways to address the void left by Mohamed Salah's departure. Liverpool are simply refusing to bet everything on one name.

Why Mendes' Involvement Signals This Deal Is Serious

Transfer rumours involving teenagers with big-money valuations rarely come attached to confirmed agent contact from named journalists. This one does. Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Liverpool have approached Mbaye's new representative, Mendes, whose agency's reach across European football rarely lends itself to deals that go nowhere, as reported by CaughtOffside.

A Deal That Nearly Went Elsewhere

Romano's reporting, relayed via CaughtOffside, adds a detail that sharpens the urgency: Mbaye was reportedly close to joining RB Leipzig before that deal collapsed once Leipzig's own move for Yan Diomande to PSG fell through. Mbaye also holds proposals from other Bundesliga clubs, but is said to be prioritising the Liverpool project, according to the same report.

RMC Sport's Fabrice Hawkins broke the initial line that Mbaye had given his personal approval to a move, with talks between Liverpool and PSG expected to follow, as cited by CaughtOffside. Two separate strands of French reporting landing on the same conclusion, within a day of each other, is the clearest indicator yet that this is more than agent-driven noise.

The Price Problem That Could Still Sink It

None of that guarantees a deal gets done. PSG are reported to value Mbaye at more than €50 million, a striking figure for a player who has yet to establish himself as a regular starter in Paris, per CaughtOffside.

Liverpool have already shown this summer that they won't chase a valuation they consider inflated. They walked away from RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande after intermediaries tried to reopen talks, with the club unwilling to compete for a player whose priority appeared to be Real Madrid, according to CaughtOffside. Mbaye's €50m-plus price tag, for an unproven 18-year-old, is exactly the kind of number that has previously made Liverpool's recruitment team pause.

Mbaye and Barcola: Two Different Solutions to the Same Problem

What makes this story genuinely interesting isn't Mbaye in isolation, it's that Liverpool are working him alongside Barcola rather than as a fallback. The two players solve the same positional problem in opposite ways.

• Bradley Barcola: established, proven at the highest level, carries what CaughtOffside describes as an enormous valuation, but arrives ready to shoulder senior responsibility immediately.
• Ibrahim Mbaye: 18 years old, comfortable on either flank, considerably cheaper than Barcola even at a €50m-plus price, and viewed initially as a rotation option rather than a direct Salah replacement, per CaughtOffside.

Iraola has publicly acknowledged that Liverpool need another winger capable of directness, unpredictability and pace following Salah's exit, according to CaughtOffside. Signing both players wouldn't just fill a gap, it would signal a wholesale refresh of the right side of Liverpool's attack rather than a like-for-like swap.

The Logistical Problem of Negotiating With PSG Twice

Running two simultaneous deals with the same selling club is rarely straightforward. PSG hold significant leverage in both cases, Barcola because of his proven output and Mbaye because Paris will reportedly only sanction a sale for an exceptional offer, as noted by CaughtOffside.

Paying heavily for both risks leaving Liverpool short elsewhere in the squad, a tension that runs through the club's entire summer rather than just the winger market.

The Bigger Picture: Liverpool's Post-Salah Squad Rebuild

The Mbaye and Barcola pursuits are not happening in a vacuum. Liverpool are attempting to reshape multiple areas of the squad at once, and the right-wing situation is only the most visible.

Defensive Reinforcements Being Offered

Liverpool have also been offered a Real Madrid centre-back amid ongoing concerns about their defensive depth, according to ESPN. That report sits alongside continued speculation, described by CaughtOffside as controversial, over whether Liverpool should consider a return for Trent Alexander-Arnold just one season after his departure to Real Madrid, with the footballing case reportedly becoming harder to dismiss despite a hostile fan reaction, per CaughtOffside.

Fringe Players Still Waiting on Answers

Meanwhile, Iraola has yet to resolve the futures of Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa, both of whom have publicly said they are happy at Anfield but face genuinely limited playing time if the squad keeps expanding in attacking areas, according to CaughtOffside.

Add a possible €50m-plus teenager and an elite, expensive winger to an attacking unit that already includes unresolved fringe players, and the picture becomes clear: Liverpool aren't hunting for a single Salah replacement. They're restructuring the entire right side of the pitch, with knock-on consequences for rotation, squad balance and Champions League depth that will play out over the rest of the window.

What happens next

Expect talks between Liverpool and PSG over Mbaye to begin in earnest, with Mendes' involvement likely to accelerate contact rather than slow it down. Whether that translates into a completed deal depends almost entirely on whether PSG hold firm on a valuation north of €50 million for a player yet to prove himself as a regular starter.

The Barcola situation will move on a separate, likely slower track given the scale of that valuation. Liverpool's willingness to run both pursuits simultaneously, while also fielding defensive offers and leaving Elliott, Chiesa and the Alexander-Arnold question unresolved, suggests the club expects at least one of these threads to stall before the window closes.

For bettors and fans tracking Liverpool's odds for a top-four finish or Champions League progress, the right-wing picture remains the single biggest swing factor in how the squad shapes up by deadline day.