A rising Paris Saint-Germain star has turned down the chance to join Liverpool and play for Arne Slot and has agreed a deal to move to Barcelona next summer, according to a Spanish report, but TEAMtalk delves deep into the rumour and analyses why it must be taken with a pinch of salt.
PSG, Barcelona and Liverpool are three of the biggest clubs in the world and were hugely successful last season. While PSG won Ligue 1 and the Champions League in the 2024/25 campaign, Barcelona became the champions of Spain and Liverpool clinched the Premier League title in Arne Slot’s first season in charge.
While Barcelona, Liverpool and PSG have very strong squads, they are always on the hunt for more quality players, including stars for the future.
In Ibrahim Mbaye, PSG have a rising star who could develop into a world-class player in the coming years.
The 17-year-old is the youngest player ever to start a competitive game for PSG, at 16 years and 205 days old, and is also the third-youngest goalscorer for the Ligue 1 giants after Warren Zaire-Emery and Bartholomew Ogbeche.
A direct winger who is able to beat opponents with his quick feet and is blessed with pace, Mbaye has already made 18 appearances for the PSG first team, scoring one goal and registering two assists in the process.
According to E-Noticies, Mbaye has ‘offers from Liverpool and PSG’, but the French winger ‘will sign for Barca’ in the summer of 2026.
Barcelona sporting director Deco ‘has reached an agreement in principle’ with the winger for him to become a Barcelona player next summer, with Mbaye costing ‘only €3million (£3.4m, $4m)’.
While PSG want to ‘renew’ Mbaye’s contract, he has already chosen Barcelona as his next destination.
The report has described Mbaye as the new Ansu Fati, who came through Barcelona’s youth academy and is now on loan at AS Monaco.
Ibrahim Mbaye rumour has to be treated cautiously
E-Noticies is a Catalan media outlet with just over 30,000 followers on X, while the author of this particular report, Miquel Blazquez, has over 225,000 followers on the same platform and covers ‘the latest news about Barcelona’, according to his profile.
No other source is backing this claim that Mbaye will sign for Barcelona and has turned down the chance to join Liverpool or sign a new deal with PSG, so one has to treat this as speculation at this point.
Unless major Spanish or French publications, such as Sport or L’Equipe, shed more light on this story, one needs to tread carefully.
Mbaye is under contract at PSG until the summer of 2027 and is already part of Luis Enrique’s first-team squad.
It is hard to see PSG being willing to sell the teenager next summer, especially for just €3million (£3.4m, $4m).
While Barcelona are one of the biggest and most historic clubs in the world, PSG are going places under Enrique and are one of the favourites to win the Champions League for the second season in a row.
Latest Liverpool news: ‘Favourites’ for Argentine striker, Alexander-Arnold sale truth
Liverpool signed Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike in the summer transfer window, but the defending Premier League champions are seemingly on the hunt for more strikers.
A Spanish report has claimed that Liverpool are ‘favourites’ to sign a striker that Manchester City sold in 2024, with Barcelona also keen on a deal for the star in the summer of 2026.
Meanwhile, journalist Fabrizio Romano has revealed the chances of Real Madrid selling Trent Alexander-Arnold after signing him from Liverpool only in the summer of 2025.
Alexander-Arnold left Liverpool at the end of last season and moved to Madrid, and his time at the Santiago Bernabeu has been disappointing so far, with Manchester City linked with a move for the England international right-back in 2026.
Elsewhere, Liverpool are said to be keen on signing as many as three new players in 2026, with a top English midfielder on their radar.