Yankuba Minteh’s camp are still clinging to the hope of a late, dramatic switch to Liverpool – but the window, and the logic, are closing in around them.
The Brighton winger has been on the Reds’ radar all month. Liverpool sounded him out, weighed up the numbers, even tested the waters with bids that fell short of Brighton’s hard line. The Seagulls want £80m for the 22-year-old Gambia international and have already turned down two offers from Merseyside, the latest at £60m.
Brighton haven’t blinked. And Liverpool, for now, have stepped back.
Minteh’s side keep pushing
Ben Jacobs revealed on talkSPORT that Minteh’s representatives are still working the phones, still trying to engineer a deadline day move to Anfield. They “hope that it happens today,” he said, even while accepting that the deal is unlikely to materialise before the 11pm cut-off.
That hope rests on a door that no longer looks open.
Liverpool’s attacking plans have shifted. Cody Gakpo, whose future had attracted serious interest, is staying. Bradley Barcola has completed his move from Paris Saint-Germain, closing off another potential domino in the winger market. Liverpool have also considered Ismaila Sarr of Crystal Palace as an alternative option on the right, but with Gakpo now going nowhere, the urgency for another wide forward has drained away.
The pressure from Minteh’s camp is real. The pathway, less so.
The Gakpo decision changes everything
The clearest sign of Liverpool’s stance came in the last 24 hours. Manchester City tested their resolve with an £80m offer for Gakpo, as reported by The Athletic. Liverpool said no.
That figure is crucial. It’s the same price Brighton are holding out for with Minteh. Had Liverpool cashed in on Gakpo and gone all-in on Minteh, the two deals would have more or less cancelled each other out financially.
But this is not a numbers game alone. Minteh is currently sidelined with injury and expected to be out for a significant spell. Gakpo, by contrast, has started the season sharp, with a goal and an assist in his first two games. One is producing now. The other is an expensive project on hold.
Selling a fit, in-form attacker to fund a move for an injured one at the same price? That was never going to fly at Anfield.
A crowded forward line
Even in theory, Minteh’s arrival would create a traffic jam. If Liverpool were to sign the Brighton winger without moving anyone on, Andoni Iraola would be left with six senior wingers fighting for two starting spots.
Coaches love depth. Players don’t love the bench.
For a manager trying to build rhythm and cohesion in the final third, that many high-level options in the same zone can quickly turn from a blessing into a headache. Minutes get squeezed. Frustrations grow. Dressing rooms feel it.
Liverpool know this. They also know that Gakpo’s versatility across the front line, coupled with his early-season form, gives them exactly what they need right now.
Hope versus reality
Minteh’s representatives will keep pushing until the shutters come down on the window. That is their job. Deadline day has a habit of flipping scripts in an instant, and nobody at Liverpool will be naïve enough to say “never” before the clock hits 11pm.
But there is a difference between possibility and probability.
With Gakpo staying, City rebuffed, Brighton unmoved on their £80m stance, and Minteh out injured, the pieces no longer line up. The story that once looked like a live thread of Liverpool’s summer now feels like one for another window.
Unless something wild breaks late, the 22-year-old’s immediate future points to the south coast, not the Kop. The smart money says Yankuba Minteh will still be a Brighton player when the window slams shut – and Liverpool will ride into the rest of 2026 with the firepower they already trust.
