A second Rio Ngumoha for €40m? Why the Mbaye plan makes sense

Rio Ngumoha did not creep into the Liverpool first team last season — he kicked the door in. The hype had followed him around since his move north, and the club's desperate need for something fresh on the flanks only turned the volume up. Remarkably, he met it.

He was electric in bursts, fearless in the moments that ask most of young players, and he is now unarguably one of the brightest wide talents in world football. So the obvious question: could Liverpool find another one?

Enter Ibrahim Mbaye

Fabrice Hawkins — about as reliable as it gets on French football — reports Liverpool are set to open talks for PSG's Ibrahim Mbaye. This is not a speculative name thrown at a wall; the reporting has substance, and the fit is close to ideal.

Consider the company Mbaye keeps. Only two wingers aged 17 at the midpoint of last season played 500-plus minutes across Europe's top five leagues: Ngumoha and Mbaye. (Lennart Karl joins them if you are generous with his positional label.) That is the entire list.

Crucially, the pair naturally occupy opposite flanks while being comfortable on either side. That solves the problem that usually kills these ideas — two young players competing for one shirt. Here, both can play, both can start, and both can be rotated without either stagnating.

The €40m question

Hawkins suggests a deal could be struck around €40 million. Set that against the £100m-plus figures being thrown around for senior attackers this window and it looks close to a market inefficiency.

Liverpool would be buying a decade of wide play in one summer, and developing two teenagers side by side who could grow into something resembling a next-generation Mané and Salah. That is the dream scenario. At €40m, it is a dream worth chasing hard.