By OkayGoal
Brighton have reportedly rejected an opening £50m bid from Liverpool for winger Yankuba Minteh.
Liverpool have been looking for a winger since the departure this summer of club legend Mohamed Salah.
And reports on Thursday suggest that the Merseyside club lodged a formal £50m bid for the Gambia international, with Brighton keen to hold on to the 22-year-old forward.
Brighton, who are also facing the prospect of losing midfielder Carlos Baleba to Manchester United, drew the first leg of their Conference League play-off with Tromso 0-0 on Thursday.
Liverpool have already added Victor Muñoz from Osasuna and brought in Ronald Araújo on loan from Barcelona to shore up the backline, but remain in the hunt for an elite winger.
Yan Diomande was an apparent target before he opted to swap RB Leipzig for Real Madrid, while an enquiry for Bradley Barcola hit an immediate wall when Paris Saint-Germain slapped a prohibitive £145m price tag on the French international. Liverpool have also kept close tabs on PSG teenager Ibrahim Mbaye as they work through a shortlist of attainable options.
That pursuit led them directly to Minteh, who cost Brighton £30m when arriving from Newcastle United in 2024.
Minteh is currently facing roughly eight weeks on the sidelines due to an injury.