Report: Liverpool have been trying to sign 'intelligent' wonderkid compared to Ousmane Dembele for less than £3m
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Liverpool have seen the benefit of having young players who are good enough to supplement the first team squad already this season.
Not many would have necessarily counted Rio Ngumoha as a genuine option in the front line for Arne Slot this term, but he’s so far proving to be exactly that.
Ngumoha has been dazzling opposition coaches and Liverpool fans alike, and the 17-year-old looks all set for a big future at Anfield.
Liverpool have become better at snaring talents like Ngumoha over recent years, but can arguably still improve in this area.
Getting young players in early can save millions upon millions in the transfer market, and identifying the right ones is the sign of a well-functioning club.
After the success of Ngumoha, Liverpool are reportedly trying to sign another of Europe’s top teenaged wingers.
Photo by Franco Arland/Getty Images
One team who have always been brilliant at bringing through young players who look at home on the big stage is PSG.
Paris as a city is one of the biggest generators of talents in world football, and as the biggest local club, PSG have their pick of that.
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One to come through in the past 18 months has been winger Ibrahim Mbaye, who has played 19 times for the European champions to date.
Although he only has one goal in that time, Catalan outlet E-Noticies claim that the 17-year-old has caught the attention of Barcelona and Liverpool.
Unfortunately for the Reds, it is Barca who have reportedly stolen a march here.
It is claimed that sporting director Deco has blown both Liverpool and PSG out of the water in convincing Mbaye to play for them.
Liverpool are said to have made an offer to the youngster, but he reportedly has his heart now set on the Camp Nou,
It is claimed that Barcelona could move to sign Mbaye in January or next summer, with a transfer fee of as little as £2.6m in the offing.
Liverpool are not out of it just yet, but this looks to be going Barca’s way.
For plenty of Liverpool supporters, this will be their first time hearing of Mbaye, despite the high-profile nature of his club.
But the teenager has certainly been making an impression back home in Paris, earning comparisons to Kylian Mbappe, as well as recent Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele.
GOAL reported back in May that insiders at PSG believe Mbaye could become a ‘mobile centre-forward’ in the manner that Dembele has at the Parc des Princes recently.
“He [Mbaye] plays with very good rhythm with and without the ball, has a lot of qualities and is very intelligent,” says manager Luis Enrique, while GOAL also claim that comparisons to former PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe have not been far away either.