Minteh says YES to Liverpool transfer as Brighton set price and Hurzeler accepts fate

Yankuba Minteh has informed his representatives and his club, Brighton, that he wants to make the move to Anfield this summer after Liverpool saw a second offer rejected for his services, while Fabian Hurzeler has accepted his exit having already signed his replacement at the AMEX.

Liverpool are looking to add some pazzazz to Andoni Iraola’s forward line and are already well down the line with negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain over a deal for Bradley Barcola.

But while that bubbles along, the Reds are also looking to sign a third new winger of the summer, having already brought in Victor Munoz, in the form of Brighton livewire Minteh.

The 22-year-old Gambian star has long been on Liverpool’s radar, and our transfer correspondent, Fraser Fletcher, exclusively revealed on July 8 that the Reds were hot on his trail this summer and were readying a big-money bid.

Now, having seen an opening bid worth £50m fail, the Merseyside giants have now been knocked back with a second offer of £60m (€70m, $82m).

The good news for Liverpool, though, is that they are not far away from meeting the Seagulls’ valuation for the star.

Per widespread reports, Brighton are looking for a fee in the region of £70m.

However, according to the Daily Mail’s Lewis Steele, writing on X, a deal is there to be done for around £66m – meaning, if true, that the Reds are now just £6m short of agreeing a fee for the winger.

That fee would also see the south-coast club double their initial £33m investment from Newcastle just two summers ago – far from a bad return for a player who has scored just 10 times in 73 appearances for them.

More good news comes from the fact that Brighton have already signed a replacement in Nigerian prospect Zadok Yohanna, who has joined in a £21.5m switch from Swedish side AIK over the summer.

In addition, Seagulls boss Hurzeler has already explained why he expects the former Newcastle man to move on…

READ MORE: Minteh agreement in place for Liverpool as journalist ‘daren’t say’ price for second winger

Minteh to Liverpool closing in as Brighton boss accepts fate

While confidence is growing on Merseyside that a deal will get done for the 20-cap Gambia international, Brighton themselves appear to have accepted that the winger will be on the move this summer.

Minteh’s own wishes to exit the south coast and move to Merseyside are likely to play a large part in that decision, though so too is the Brighton transfer model, which involves buying players for a cost, developing them, and selling them on for big profit; then rinse and repeat.

As a result, Seagulls boss Hurzeler appears to have accepted that the winger will be on the move this summer.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Hurzeler admitted: “It’s normal if you’re successful as a team, if the team is doing well, has some good achievements, then the individual can shine, and of course, there will be a big ask for our players.

“That’s part of our identity, part of my job here.

“It was clear to everyone that this might happen during a busy transfer window.

“We can go through now every individual player; we all know how important these kinds of players are for me.

“But we also know that good achievements, big achievements, especially in the Premier League, you create offers, you create a lot of attention.

“So we have to wait now; the situation will evolve.

“I’m not here to complain, I’m here to find solutions, and I’m convinced that, together with my players, we will find good solutions.”

Liverpool’s move for Minteh suggests that they have now abandoned a move for PSG’s young teenage prodigy, Ibrahim Mbaye, who had been the subject of Reds’ discussions alongside Barcola.

On the subject of the teenager, one journalist “daren’t say” what he thinks the Senegalese star will cost.

The outstanding target, though, remains Barcola. In good news for that pursuit, the Reds were told on Friday that PSG have ‘no intention’ of keeping Barcola after a French insider dropped the biggest bomba transfer update yet on the prospective move.