Minteh green lights Liverpool switch as insiders reveal second bid’s status | OneFootball

Yankuba Minteh has agreed his contract with Liverpool, as Fabrizio Romano is among the insiders revealing the status of the Reds’ second bid for the winger.

The Reds have spent all summer trying to land a replacement for Mohamed Salah. So far, getting somebody to fill the gap left by the Egyptian superstar after his nine-year spell has been tough.

Bradley Barcola remains the priority, with Ibrahim Mbaye and Minteh among the other options.

The Brighton winger was courted earlier in the summer but TEAMtalk revealed on Thursday that Liverpool had firmed up their interest with a £50million bid, which was turned away.

A second bid has come and gone, per a pair of insiders, including Romano.

He wrote on X: ‘Liverpool and Yankuba Minteh have a broad verbal agreement on contract terms as the player said yes to #LFC project. Brighton rejected £60m bid sent today but talks continue, as @foday_manneh_ reported.’

Manneh, a journalist from Minteh’s home country of Gambia, revealed the fate of that bid earlier.

He said: ‘BREAKING Yankuba Minteh to Liverpool FC; a second bid rejected by Brighton from #LFC for the Gambian winger after a £50M opening offer turned down, I can exclusively confirm today. The two clubs are hopeful about agreeing and continue talks.’

New bid incoming for Yankuba Minteh

It means if Liverpool are to land Minteh, they’ll need to lodge a third bid. It had been suggested that the second would be enough, with a few insiders feeling £60million was the right price.

Brighton reporter for The Athletic, Andy Naylor, said of Minteh to Liverpool and Carlos Baleba to Manchester United: ‘On transfers, Minteh and Baleba will probably both end up happening, as the offers (50m and around 60m) are not that far away from making sense.’

Ben Jacobs, meanwhile, said: “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.”

And on Liverpool’s priorities for the wing, he added: “Yankuba Minteh has been a target for some time. But I don’t sense that it’s definitively Minteh and Barcola as one and two. Although the other way round, of course.

“I think it’s more Barcola as number one – a must-get if they possibly can, and then there are three or four other options that Liverpool have enquired about and bid on.”