Liverpool's Pursuit of Ismaila Sarr Intensifies

Liverpool refuse to walk away from Ismaila Sarr. Not yet.

Fenway Sports Group’s search for a new winger has already taken a few twists, and another one is coming: Liverpool are preparing a fresh bid to try and prise Sarr from Crystal Palace before the window closes.

Liverpool come back for Sarr

Sarr has moved to the top of Liverpool’s wide-forward shortlist. An initial offer of around £50 million, reported on August 26, went in to Palace. The Senegal international is understood to be keen on a move to Anfield, keen to test himself at the sharp end of the Premier League and in Europe.

Palace, though, pushed back. Fabrizio Romano reported that the London club rejected Liverpool’s proposal and that their plan is clear: keep the 28-year-old, who has become central to their attacking identity.

Liverpool are not taking that as the final word. At 3:04pm on August 28, Sky Sport Switzerland journalist Sacha Tavolieri reported that the club are “making another push” for Sarr and are preparing a new proposal for Palace. The pursuit is live, not lingering.

There is another twist in the background. Saudi Pro League side Al Ittihad are monitoring the situation and could move if Liverpool’s negotiations collapse, adding pressure and jeopardy to an already tight end to the window. Any delay from Anfield risks opening the door elsewhere.

Missed targets and shifting priorities

The chase for Sarr comes after Liverpool ran into a wall with Brighton and Hove Albion over Yankuba Minteh. Brighton value the winger at £70m. Liverpool tested that stance with two bids, both below the asking price, and got nowhere.

Before Minteh, the recruitment team had explored a deal for Paris Saint-Germain’s highly rated teenager Ibrahim Mbaye. PSG put a £60m price on the 18-year-old. Liverpool stepped away.

That decision has allowed Aston Villa to pounce. At 4:10pm on August 28, The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed that Villa have reached an agreement in principle with PSG to sign Mbaye in a deal worth €55m. The relationship between PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Villa owner Nassef Sawiris has been described as key in pushing the move towards completion.

So Liverpool, who looked at Mbaye and then Minteh, now find themselves locked on to Sarr as the winger they believe can be prised loose in the final days of the window.

The question is simple and brutal: how far are they willing to go to make Crystal Palace change their mind?