Liverpool are in desperate need of wingers, having struggled through last season short at the position after sporting director Richard Hughes chose to sell Colombian star Luis Diaz and failed to replace him. Hughes then pushed legend Mohamed Salah out of the club, leaving the Reds even more in need of reinforcements.
The signing of Victor Muñoz early in the summer was a good start but not nearly enough, and with less than a week to go in the summer transfer window the Reds need at two high calibre
wing signings. Everyone knows it, too, and prices are sky high as a result as everyone wants to take advantage of Hughes’ missteps as a sporting director.
Paris Saint-Germain have signalled that they will accept no less than £120M (€140M) for top target and so-called Salah replacement Bradley Barcola, a fee that even in the current inflated market seems at least £20M too high.
Meanwhile in England, Brighton have rejected £50M and £60M bids for Yankuba Minteh, and now reports have the south coast club demanding £80M to sell Minteh, who is currently injured and scored three goals and four assists in all competitions last season with a goal involvement every 350 minutes.
By comparison, Salah had a goal involvement every 140 minutes last season and the much maligned Cody Gakpo—widely believed to be heading to Tottenham if Liverpool get their winger deals across the line—had a goal involvement every 240 minutes last season. Both players fell well below their career averages on that front.
TalkSport’s Ben Jacobs, known for having connections to Liverpool’s embattled sporting director, says that’s a valuation the Reds simply won’t meet. Liverpool, though, need wingers. And everyone knows it. Meanwhile, the clock just keeps ticking and the summer transfer window slams shut on September 1st.
To call the situation less than ideal for Liverpool would be an understatement. For Hughes, though, a lucrative move to the Saudi Pro League is expected once the window shuts. So that’s nice for him. Just a shame about the part where he’s taken a title-calibre squad at Liverpool and managed to destroy it over the past three years.
