Liverpool Agrees Terms with PSG Starlet Mbaye Amid Barcola Pursuit

Liverpool’s summer-long pursuit of Bradley Barcola has taken a sharp twist – with another Paris Saint-Germain forward now agreeing terms with the club.

FourFourTwo understands Liverpool have grown wary of PSG’s stance over a nine-figure fee for Barcola. The World Cup winner remains the marquee target and a contract is already in place, but with negotiations slowing and the French champions holding firm, the Merseysiders have moved to protect themselves.

That safety net has a name: Ibrahim Mbaye.

Mbaye deal lined up as Barcola talks rumble on

RMC Sport report that Liverpool have now agreed a five-year deal with Mbaye, the highly rated Senegalese teenager who, like Barcola, has been on the fringes of Luis Enrique’s attack.

The message from Anfield is clear. Barcola discussions continue, the door is not shut, but Liverpool are no longer waiting around with just one option. Mbaye is now part of the plan.

Both forwards are understood to be keen on a Premier League move. With Andoni Iraola offering a clearer pathway to minutes and slightly less suffocating competition than at PSG, the switch holds obvious appeal.

PSG reload up front

All of this comes against the backdrop of a frantic attacking rebuild in Paris.

PSG have already allowed Goncalo Ramos to leave for Ruben Amorim’s Milan. In response, they have accelerated deals for World Cup final hero Ferran Torres and Ajax prospect Mika Godts, doubling down on depth and variety in the final third.

Last season, first-choice trio Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue and Ousmane Dembele combined for 52 goals in all competitions. Barcola added 13 more, while Mbaye chipped in with three.

Barcola actually featured more than any other attacker across Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the Champions League, yet he and Mbaye both spent most of the campaign as supporting pieces. Luis Enrique trusted a fixed formula for the biggest nights, rotating heavily around it.

Even Dembele, a central figure in that structure, started only 10 league games for the eventual French champions as Enrique managed workloads with Europe in mind. This summer’s recruitment only reinforces that approach: more weapons, more rotation, fewer guarantees.

For young forwards like Barcola and Mbaye, that spells a ceiling. For Liverpool, it spells opportunity.

Life after Salah

At Anfield, the context is very different. Mohamed Salah has gone, leaving a gaping hole on the right and a shift in the hierarchy of the attack.

So far, Liverpool have moved for Spanish winger Victor Munoz to freshen up the frontline. They are hardly short of left-sided options either, with Munoz, Rio Ngumoha, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz all comfortable operating off that flank.

The right, though, is where the question mark sits. That is where Mbaye could come in.

Liverpool’s interest in Barcola has never been in doubt; he has been the priority since the window opened. But agreeing terms with Mbaye as well changes the complexion of the chase. It gives Iraola and the recruitment team leverage in talks with PSG, and it gives the squad a different profile of attacker if the Barcola deal ultimately collapses.

For now, Liverpool push on two fronts: one World Cup star they have courted all summer, and one Senegalese teenager who might just find his future fast-tracked by PSG’s own ambition.