Liverpool are plotting their next move in the Yankuba Minteh saga – despite a ‘bizarre’ issue.
The Reds opened their Premier League season with a disappointing draw at St. James’ Park, as Dominik Szoboszlai salvaged a point for Liverpool with a last-gasp penalty against a dogged Newcastle United.
But despite calls for the club to bring in more defensive-minded players – even from Anfield legend Jamie Carragher on Monday Night Football, who was critical of his former club’s opening performance – Liverpool are pressing on with bringing in two more wingers before the transfer window slams shut in a week, with Minteh the standout option on the right.
Liverpool still want Yankuba Minteh – despite ‘bizarre’ setback
Liverpool have had two bids rejected for Yankuba Minteh already in the last week.
The Gambian has become the Reds’ top target to replace Mohamed Salah on the right flank – with TEAMtalk relaying that the club are weighing up whether to increase their bid to a minimum of £65 million.
The report describes the continued interest as “bizarre”, however, following journalist Florian Plettenberg revealing in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that Minteh is expected to be out of action for a minimum of eight weeks.
The Brighton & Hove Albion man picked up the knock in pre-season against Roma and missed the Seagulls’ romp at home to Aston Villa at the weekend, with Plettenberg noting he may need “two to three months to be fully match-fit after his injury”.
Given how disjointed Liverpool looked in their draw with Newcastle, the injury news comes as a blow to new manager Andoni Iraola, who is trying to get his squad up to speed and ingrained in his methods as soon as possible.
Youngster Rio Ngumoha started out of position on the right on Tyneside, while the Reds had questions to answer with their high-flying full-backs, lack of cover in defensive midfield, how best to compensate for the ageing Virgil van Dijk and which position best suits big-money playmaker Florian Wirtz.
FourFourTwo understands that a fee of around £70m would be enough for Brighton to accept – with journalist Ben Jacobs corroborating that figure on TalkSPORT.
“With Minteh, they held some talks over the weekend,” he claimed, adding, “They’re deciding today; so it could change any minute and very quickly whether they want to make a third bid.”
“If they go to £70m, it’ll be a done deal, according to Brighton sources: my sense is Liverpool might consider £65m first.”
Minteh is worth €45m, according to Transfermarkt. Liverpool play Nottingham Forest when Premier League action continues next weekend.