Liverpool's Pursuit of Ibrahim Mbaye Gains Momentum

Liverpool’s pursuit of Ibrahim Mbaye has just been handed a major boost – thanks to a record-breaking bid in Germany that has nothing to do with Anfield.

The Premier League club are pushing to bring the highly rated Paris Saint-Germain teenager to Merseyside. Inside the recruitment department, Mbaye is viewed as the kind of talent who can grow into the very top level of the game: explosive, decisive, and fearless in the final third.

There’s also a clear footballing logic. Those around Liverpool see a natural on-pitch chemistry between Mbaye and Rio Ngumoha, and believe the PSG winger is as close as they’ll get to a long-term heir on the right flank when the Mohamed Salah era eventually ends. Not immediately. But over time. Mbaye has the tools to make that conversation real rather than romantic.

Liverpool are not alone in that assessment. Interest in the Senegal youngster has been strong, with several European clubs tracking his progress. Recent reports, though, have placed Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund at the front of the queue.

Dortmund, as ever, are drawn to a development project. They see Mbaye as exactly that: a high-ceiling prospect they can polish into a star. Yet their priorities are being tested by another name.

Said El Mala.

The Koln teenager lit up the Bundesliga last season, widely viewed as the standout young player in the league after Yan Diomande. El Mala’s campaign for Koln was outstanding, full of maturity and end product, and in many other seasons he would have been the headline act.

Dortmund have long admired him, and now they are moving. Sky Germany report that the club are going all-in, with Florian Plettenberg revealing that a €55 million offer has gone in to Koln for El Mala. Personal terms with the player are already agreed.

The scale of the bid underlines Dortmund’s intent. It would be the biggest offer in the club’s history and would make El Mala their record signing if Koln accept.

And that is where Liverpool come back into focus.

If Dortmund land El Mala, it is viewed as highly improbable that they then commit a similar outlay on Mbaye. Two major attacking investments of that size in the same window would be a huge stretch, even for a club famed for aggressive youth recruitment.

Strip that away, and Liverpool suddenly find themselves with clear air in the chase for Mbaye. No Dortmund. No comparable heavyweight rival at the table. Just a clean run at a player they believe can grow into a defining figure on the right.

For Liverpool, it’s very simple: if Dortmund close the El Mala deal, the path to Mbaye has never looked more open.