Yankuba Minteh vs Ismaila Sarr: Which winger would be the better fit for Liverpool and why

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Liverpool supporters have been growing increasingly baffled by their club’s movements in the transfer window after seeing big moves for Premier League wingers Yankuba Minteh and Ismaila Sarr turned down.The Reds were seemingly willing to go as high as £60m for Minteh and £50m for Sarr, but with Brighton looking for closer to £80m and Palace unwilling to do business, Liverpool have been knocked back for now.Returning to the table still seems possible at this stage, though fans are not exactly enthusiastic at the prospect of either player becoming their new right winger. Liverpool want to sign Ismaila Sarr!

Thoughts? 🤯 He is seen as an alternative to Yankuba Minteh Ismaila Sarr Sarr would give Liverpool better outputIf the late move for the currently injured Minteh had slightly annoyed fans who are hoping for a more exciting player to complement the likely arrival of Bradley Barcola, then Wednesday’s effort to sign Sarr pushed many over the edge into anger.But while the annoyance should be directed towards Richard Hughes and his blatant lack of planning for this summer, the facts are the Sarr would offer plenty to Liverpool.£50m may sound a lot for a player who will turn 29 in February – and the Reds would surely end up having to pay more for Palace to agree to a sale – but in comparison to wingers such as Savio, who has just joined Tottenham a way bigger price, it is not actually a bad fee.READ MORE: Bradley Barcola on the verge of joining Liverpool as Reds new investors step in to help complete dealEven in comparison to Minteh, Sarr looks like a slight bargain. Liverpool are not usually in the business of paying so much for players almost touching 30, but if Sarr could take that kind of form with him to Anfield, paying £60m or so may end up being a really good deal for the Reds.

Considering that Sarr posted 21 in 46 matches last term, and you start to see the cavernous gap.Nevertheless, Minteh easily beats Sarr for assists – four to one last season – and though those are still not big numbers, the Brighton man created 44 chances in the Premier League last year, with Sarr tallying up only 19.With Liverpool now looking to their wide players to facilitate Alexander Isak and help him score more, that may appeal to Andoni Iraola.Photo by Sebastian Frej/Getty ImagesSix years younger than Sarr, Minteh can also get much, much better and it is fairly clear that his ceiling is higher than the older player’s current level.If Brighton do not budge on their £80m asking price, it would still feel hard to take for fans to pay so much on a player with such little output. But the underlying numbers are heavily in Minteh’s favour here, and though they would be betting big on potential, the fee may also end up looking fair in time.Verdict: Minteh is the better choice for LiverpoolDespite his lack of goals and the bigger price, Minteh would almost certainly be the better choice here for Liverpool.There is a reason the Reds seemingly targeted the Brighton wide man first, and although he would cost them more, they would get many more years out of him.Whether he could ever reach the output of Sarr is impossible to know, but if Liverpool want a winger who can link up with the central players and create chances for them, then Minteh is already the better option.The Gambia international is also likely to retain his value whether he is able to deliver at Anfield or not, meaning Liverpool could sell him on in two or three years and still make back a good chunk of money.That would be impossible to do with Sarr, making his arrival a far bigger gamble, and though the Senegal star would offer pace and direct threat to a side which has badly been missing it, Minteh cutting in onto his left foot would also allow Jeremie Frimpong to go on the outside, working much better for what Iraola needs.If Minteh really is not available then we could just about get behind Sarr.