No personal terms: Liverpool fans dealt PSG winger blow 12 days before window closes

In partnership with

Empire of the Kop

·20 August 2026

No personal terms: Liverpool fans dealt PSG winger blow 12 days before window closes

Liverpool find themselves in the position of needing Ibrahim Mbaye’s signature ahead of the close of the summer transfer window.

Yet, according to The Athletic, sources close to the Reds’ exploration of a potential move “has gone no further”.

OneFootball Videos

More to the point, reports indicating that the Merseysiders have already nailed down personal terms with the Senegal international are understood to be wide of the mark.

Liverpool could keep their powder dry with Ibrahim Mbaye

Andy Jones reports: “Bayer Leverkusen and Liverpool are two of the clubs to have explored a move for the winger this summer, but senior club sources at Liverpool insist it has gone no further, dismissing reports that personal terms have been agreed.”

Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust

Fantastic… but that doesn’t change the fact we need a minimum of two forwards in through the doors this summer.

Now, bearing in mind that PSG are reportedly pricing Mbaye at around the £43m mark, it raises questions around how much Liverpool are prepared to spend on an additional attacker beyond Bradley Barcola.

We appreciate the Frenchman could still set us back north of £120m this summer, but we’re pretty convinced that our recruitment is going to struggle to find another suitable target considerably cheaper than Mbaye.

Regardless, we expect things will become somewhat clearer once we do eventually (hopefully) seal a permanent move for Barcola.

Mbaye fits what Liverpool are looking for in a winger

If you want our honest opinion: Liverpool need three attackers in through the door this summer. And that looks like two wingers and a central forward to give Alexander Isak some breathing room this season.

Now, if we all accept that we’re shifting the burden of goals to the central forward, then we can surely get on board with the notion that Liverpool need facilitators (in other words, chance creators) on the flanks.

In that case, Ibrahim Mbaye fits the bill perfectly, as Jones goes on to illustrate here: “He uses his acceleration and excellent turning to get out of tight spaces rather than into physical duels where opponents can dominate him. He frequently looks to drive forward with the ball, which often leads to chance creation rather than shooting opportunities for himself.”

Yes, he’s young (18) and extremely raw. Yes, the price tag seems a little… well… pricey. But in an inflated market, and with such an incredibly high ceiling on offer, we think £40m-50m for the right-sided winger could turn out to be a bargain move for Liverpool in the long run.

Better for the teenager to develop on our books than watch his value soar at another outfit prepared to spend time developing the footballer.

Whatever the case, we could do with a decision being made swiftly, given that there are only 12 days left before the summer transfer window slams shut.