Liverpool have suffered another blow in the race for a transfer target, with Paris Saint-Germain winger Ibrahim Mbaye now close to joining Aston Villa.<\/p>\n
The Reds had identified Mbaye as a possible addition earlier in the window, but PSG\u2019s asking price quickly became a stumbling block. Liverpool were unwilling to match the valuation of the 18-year-old, leaving the door open for a rival to step in.<\/p>\n
Villa have done exactly that. According to The Athletic, they have reached an agreement in principle after submitting a $63.8 million (\u20ac55 million, \u00a347.1 million) bid. The report also points to the relationship between PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Villa chairman Nassef Sawiris as a key factor behind the deal.<\/p>\n
Mbaye\u2019s rise has been rapid. Since joining the club\u2019s academy in 2018, he has made 42 senior appearances for the reigning European champions and delivered eight goal contributions. The Senegal international also featured at the 2026 World Cup, underlining the level of attention he has already attracted at such a young age.<\/p>\n
There was some encouragement for Liverpool supporters on Thursday, when reports said the club had agreed a $163 million (\u00a3120 million) deal with PSG for Bradley Barcola. That fee is understood to include $135 million (\u00a3100 million) up front, with the remainder tied to performance-related add-ons.<\/p>\n
Even so, that development does not solve Liverpool\u2019s wider problem on the right wing. Barcola prefers to play on the left, leaving the club\u2019s search for a successor to Mohamed Salah unresolved.<\/p>\n
The list of names linked with the role has already been extensive, with Liverpool moving from Maghnes Akliouche to Isma\u00efla Sarr, and also considering Mbaye and Yankuba Minteh. With the Sept. 1 deadline getting closer, there is still no clear indication of who, if anyone, will arrive.<\/p>\n
Other possibilities remain, including Lille\u2019s Matias Fernandez-Pardo, Porto\u2019s William Gomes, Bournemouth\u2019s Rayan, Chelsea\u2019s Pedro Neto, Juventus\u2019s Francisco Concei\u00e7\u00e3o and Club Brugge\u2019s Carlos Forbs. None, however, appears to offer a simple solution.<\/p>\n
For Villa, the move would ease pressure on Unai Emery after a difficult spell that has seen him lose much of his Europa League-winning side from 2025-26. He also delivered an emotional farewell to Ollie Watkins in his Friday news conference after confirming the pair had made up following his decision to make himself unavailable to play on the opening day of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Villa are close to Mbaye, while Liverpool\u2019s search for a right-sided forward still<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18800,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[711,175,1031],"tags":[1836,180,182],"class_list":["post-18801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aston-villa","category-liverpool","category-paris-saint-germain","tag-2026-27-premier-league","tag-player-news","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}