£80m winger remains hopeful of deadline day transfer to Liverpool as Cody Gakpo decision made | OneFootball

Yankuba Minteh’s agents reportedly remain hopeful of securing a deadline day transfer to Liverpool for the Brighton winger.

The Reds have been strongly linked with a move for the 22-year-old throughout August, although talks had seemingly stalled in recent days as the Seagulls hold out for £80m for the Gambia international, having rejected two offers from Merseyside (the second of which was £60m).

LFC have also been exploring Ismaila Sarr of Crystal Palace as an alternative right-sided target, but with Cody Gakpo now set to stay at Anfield and Bradley Barcola having completed his transfer from Paris Saint-Germain, it seems less likely that another winger will be signed today.

Minteh’s camp remain hopeful of Liverpool transfer

Ben Jacobs outlined on Tuesday morning that Minteh’s camp continue to hold out hope of a deadline day move to Liverpool, but acknowledged that one is unlikely to materialise before 11pm.

The reporter told talkSPORT (via GIVEMESPORT): “Cody Gakpo is staying at Liverpool but, Yankuba Minteh’s representatives are still seeking a move to Liverpool, and they hope that it happens today.”

However, he added the caveat that such a transfer probably won’t happen due to the Dutch winger remaining at Anfield.

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

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Liverpool don’t need Minteh at present

Liverpool have rejected an £80m offer from Manchester City for Gakpo in the past 24 hours (The Athletic), the same price they’d seemingly have to pay to prise Minteh from Brighton, so those two deals would’ve effectively cancelled each other out.

Whereas the Seagulls winger is out injured for the foreseeable future, the Dutchman has begun the campaign with a goal and an assist from his first two games, so it’d therefore make no sense to ship out the latter to make way for the former.

In theory, if the Gambian were to join the Reds today and none of our current forwards depart, Andoni Iraola would have six senior wingers vying for two starting berths – great for squad depth and rotation, not so much for trying to keep all of them happy.

Minteh’s camp may well push for a hopeful move to Liverpool in the final 12 hours of the transfer window, but realistically it isn’t going to happen at this stage, especially with Gakpo set to stay.

Deadline day can often throw up sudden plot twists, so we wouldn’t completely write it off yet, but we expect that the 22-year-old will stay at Brighton for the remainder of 2026.