Brighton’s Hurzeler on Yankuba Minteh’s Liverpool Transfer Situation

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler insists Yankuba Minteh’s Liverpool dream is not dead – but it will have to wait, and it will not come cheap.

Liverpool saw bids of £50m and then £60m rejected for the 22-year-old winger during the transfer window, as Andoni Iraola pushed for extra firepower out wide. Brighton’s stance was clear: if Minteh was to leave, it would be for a fee closer to £70m.

For now, he stays. And Hurzeler wants that to mean something.

Liverpool’s money on the table, Brighton unmoved

Minteh, the Gambia international who arrived from Newcastle for £30m in 2024, has grown into a key part of Brighton’s attack. Operating mainly off the right, he has produced 10 goals and nine assists in 73 appearances for the Seagulls – numbers that have drawn admiring glances from higher up the Premier League food chain.

Liverpool came calling, serious and persistent. Brighton simply said no.

There was no late compromise, no deadline-day scramble. Just a firm valuation and a belief that Minteh’s best work on the south coast is still to come.

Hurzeler’s message: commit now, dream later

Speaking before Brighton’s Premier League meeting with Leeds, Hurzeler struck a careful balance: understanding the player’s ambitions, while demanding full focus on the present.

"If the whole team is successful and the individual shines then Yankuba will get a lot of attention again and he can then maybe fulfil his dream in the next transfer window," the German said.

The dream is acknowledged. The timing is not negotiable.

Hurzeler stressed that Minteh is “definitely” committed to Brighton despite the failed move to Merseyside, pointing to the winger’s journey with the club so far.

"He wears the Brighton colours, he wears the Brighton badge. He has been with us for two years now as part of the squad. He has achieved great things together with the boys," Hurzeler said.

Then came the challenge.

"It's also about him now to commit. In the end, we always say we want to be successful as a club and then you can shine as individuals."

That is the Brighton model in a sentence. Collective first, platform second, payoff third.

Brighton’s blueprint, Minteh’s crossroads

Brighton have built their recent success on exactly this logic. Develop talent, win games, let the market come to them. Hurzeler was quick to remind everyone that it works.

"That is what we have proved in the past. If we achieve things together, the attention will come to the individual players and that will be the case also this season."

So Minteh stays, for at least one more chapter. Liverpool’s interest has set his price and sharpened the spotlight. What happens next will be written on the pitch – in Brighton blue, for now.