Liverpool could return for Brighton & Hove Albion‘s Yankuba Minteh in January, after failing to sign him in the summer.
Gambian journalist Foday Manneh has been speaking to Sport Witness about the Brighton star and his chances of moving to Anfield.
On Saturday, Manneh told us why Liverpool couldn’t complete his signing and ditched the idea on deadline day.
The Merseyside club made two offers of £50m and £60m, and the Seagulls rejected them.
Fabian Hürzeler’s side initially requested £70m and raised the price to £80m for the last week of the window. The Reds refused to meet their new price mainly because of the 22-year-old’s injury situation.
The winger suffered a setback in August and went under the knife. The expectation is for him to spend two to three months on the sidelines.
Therefore, Yankuba Minteh has to wait until he makes his first appearance of the season with The Amex club.
Liverpool returning depends on Brighton man
If he were to convince Andoni Iraola’s side again after returning from his setback, Foday Manneh says there’s a possibility of them making a new attempt in the next window.
“The only thing that is there is the possibility of Liverpool coming back for him in January. It’s still not ruled out,” he said.
“It only depends on how soon he can recover and come back… One or two games can convince Liverpool again that this is the player we are looking for and then can make a move.”
“Because Cody Gakpo leaving Liverpool in January is still a possibility. So, if Gakpo leaves Liverpool in January, then Yankuba can be the player then they can turn to.”
“They can come back and then see whether they can get him. That depends on if Yankuba could return to football very soon and play that good two or three games. Once he does that, Liverpool coming back in January is very, very possible.”
The journalist, who is well connected to situation, insists Yankuba Minteh’s future for the next two to three years will be in the Premier League.
“I think he will remain in the Premier League. I’m not sure he will make a move away from the Premier League for the next two to three years,” Manneh explained.
“But, yes, it is also a transfer you cannot say never and the possibility of him joining other clubs is there but at this point I think I see him more playing in the Premier League and also moving to a bigger club in the Premier League.”
British agency involvement in Liverpool negotiations
Foday Manneh extensively covered the Anfield club’s repeated attempts to sign Yankuba Minteh in the summer.
In one of the reports, he explained the Brighton man’s agent, Bakary Bojang, partnered with CAA Stellar to take his client to Liverpool.
The journalist told Sport Witness that the UK agency was involved from the beginning.
“Yes, Yankuba’s agent was working with CAA Stellar, that I know he partnered with them to get it in from the start to the last day he was with them,” he added.
“They were there from the beginning. He partnered with them from the beginning so yeah, he has been in touch with them. They were helping to move the player from Brighton to Liverpool.”
