Liverpool are running out of time to strengthen their squad ahead of the 2026/27 Premier League season, with manager Andoni Iraola demanding reinforcements.
The Reds have returned from a pre-season tour in the United States, but several key players missed the trip due to staggered returns following the World Cup.
Liverpool have not yet strengthened to the degree many supporters and analysts had hoped, leaving the squad looking dangerously thin heading into the new campaign.
Sporting director Richard Hughes is working to address multiple positions, with a high-profile PSG winger widely regarded as FSG’s marquee summer target.
Bradley Barcola, 23, has scored 34 goals across the past two campaigns for Paris Saint-Germain, with only Ousmane Dembele outscoring him at the club during that period.
Liverpool are engaged in club-to-club talks with PSG over a Barcola transfer, though the French side have placed a hefty £145m price tag on the France international.
Mohamed Salah waned considerably last season, managing just seven goals and seven assists in 27 Premier League appearances, down dramatically from his title-winning form the year before.
Replacing Salah’s output on the right flank is a pressing concern for Iraola, and there are genuine questions about whether Barcola, a natural left winger, is the right solution for that problem.
According to RMC Sport, Liverpool are in talks with PSG over 18-year-old right winger Ibrahim Mbaye, who has been told he is free to leave the Parc des Princes this summer.
Mbaye is priced at €50m, equivalent to around £43m, making him a significantly more affordable option compared to the eye-watering fee PSG are demanding for Barcola.
A number of clubs have enquired about Mbaye’s availability in recent weeks, but Liverpool are reported to be the frontrunners, with the player’s representatives already engaged in talks with the Merseysiders.
The teenage winger has already featured 42 times for PSG’s senior side, posting four goals and four assists while becoming an increasingly prominent figure in Ligue 1 last season.
Mbaye started ten times in Ligue 1 during the most recent campaign, registering five goal involvements as he cemented his place in Luis Enrique’s plans before his departure was greenlit.
Described as “the next Kylian Mbappe” by GOAL, Mbaye is a direct and unpredictable wide player whose profile maps more naturally onto the right-sided role Salah vacated than Barcola’s does.
The Senegal international caught the eye at the World Cup, scoring a memorable goal against France to announce himself on the biggest stage in international football.
Mbaye would join Rio Ngumoha in what could be a thrilling emerging generation of attacking talent at Anfield, should Hughes complete the deal before the window slams shut.
At nearly £100m less than the asking price for Barcola, Mbaye represents a sharper, more positionally specific solution to one of Liverpool’s most urgent problems heading into 2026/27.
His age naturally brings questions, but Mbaye has already demonstrated the quality and temperament to handle elite football, and his ceiling remains tantalisingly high.
Liverpool could secure a player with both immediate impact and long-term upside, filling the right-wing void left by Salah’s decline at a fraction of the Barcola cost.
If Hughes moves quickly, Mbaye could yet prove the most astute piece of business Liverpool complete this summer, outshining even a glamour signing like Barcola in the years ahead.