Liverpool's Rebuild: The Potential Impact of Ibrahim Mbaye
Liverpool’s rebuild was supposed to be an earthquake. So far, it’s been more of a controlled demolition.
Yet, piece by piece, the new structure is starting to take shape.
Victor Munoz and Jeremy Jacquet have already come through the door. Ronald Aruajo is expected to follow by the end of next week. None of them are headline-grabbing superstars, but all three address obvious gaps in a squad that has been stretched, patched, and pushed to its limit over the past few seasons.
It’s a start. Not enough to declare Liverpool ready to trade blows with Europe’s elite again, but enough to suggest there is a plan.
And now, that plan may be about to add something more explosive.
Mbaye picks his side
The transfer rumour mill around Anfield has barely stopped spinning all summer. A new name every 48 hours, a new “priority target” every week. Most of them fade as quickly as they appear. Some stick.
Ibrahim Mbaye is starting to stick.
The 18-year-old Senegal international, currently at Paris Saint-Germain, is expected to slide down the pecking order in Paris after the arrival of Maghnes Akliouche. The potential signing of Ferran Torres threatens to push him even further towards the margins.
PSG, loaded with attacking options, are ready to move him on. That much is clear.
Plenty of clubs have circled. Bayer Leverkusen are pushing to agree terms with PSG. Other sides have shown interest. Yet, according to a fresh update from Football Insider, Mbaye’s focus has shifted firmly towards Anfield.
“Ibrahim Mbaye is keen to join Liverpool this summer despite the growing interest from rival clubs, sources have told Football Insider,” the outlet reported, adding that Andoni Iraola’s public admiration for the winger has helped turn the teenager’s head towards Merseyside.
The report claims Mbaye now has his “eyes set” on a move to the Premier League, with Liverpool preparing an attempt to bring him in after being alerted to his availability. PSG, for their part, are believed to be open to a deal, unconvinced about his long-term role given the depth ahead of him.
For an 18-year-old, it’s a bold choice. For Liverpool, it could be a timely one.
Life after Salah
Strip away the noise and Liverpool’s biggest footballing question is brutally simple: where do the Mohamed Salah goals come from now?
Since 2017, Salah has been the fixed point in Liverpool’s attack. The numbers, the reliability, the sense that he would find a way even when the team was flat. He has been the system’s guarantee.
That guarantee has gone.
There are internal candidates to shoulder more of the burden. Some will talk up the potential of existing forwards, the possibility of a collective surge in output. But last season’s performances leave a fair amount of doubt hanging over that theory.
This is where Mbaye becomes more than just another name on a long list.
He is a natural right-winger. He has already played an important role for PSG and for Senegal during the 2025–26 season, a remarkable level of exposure for someone his age. He is not a project in the abstract sense – he is already operating in serious environments, under serious pressure.
No one at Liverpool will expect him to walk in and replicate Salah’s 22-goal contributions in his debut campaign. That would be unrealistic and unfair. What they can hope for is impact: if Mbaye can deliver even half that tally in his first season, and if the rest of the forward line does its share, Liverpool suddenly look far closer to replacing the Egyptian’s output than many feared.
The truth is simple: there will never be another Salah. Not in style, not in durability, not in sheer volume over such a sustained period. Trying to clone him is a fool’s errand.
Filling the void will have to be a group effort. Multiple players, different profiles, different ages, all adding pieces to the puzzle.
Mbaye, if Liverpool get him, would be one of the most intriguing pieces of all. An 18-year-old right-winger, already an international, already trusted in big games, walking into a club that desperately needs a new attacking hero on that flank.
Liverpool wanted to plug gaps this summer. With Munoz, Jacquet and soon Aruajo, they’ve started to do that.
With Mbaye, they might just find something far more valuable: a new spark on the very wing where an era was built.
