Finally! Richard Hughes about to pull off transfer two years in the making

Liverpool are finally in the process of doing something they’ve been meaning to do for two years.

Let’s face it, this window has been messy for Richard Hughes and his recruitment team. To say things have not gone to plan would be an understatement.

By now Liverpool would have hoped to have cleared some of their fringe players off the books and brought in much needed reinforcements.

In the perfect world, Yan Diomande would already be a Liverpool player. He would be getting prepared to face Newcastle United on Sunday.

But we don’t live in an ideal world. Diomande rejected Liverpool for Paris Saint Germain, and then he rejected the French for Real Madrid.

He will be lining up with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate instead.

Meanwhile, Richard Hughes has been scrambling to bring in a right-winger to replace Mo Salah, for whom he had plenty of time to find a successor for.

With less than ten days to go until the final day of the window, he’s still no closer to bringing in the heir to the Egyptian’s throne.

And the clock is ticking. Liverpool do not have many alternatives options and as the days go by, clubs will be less and less likely to let them go.

Hughes is going to have to gamble on a few players. Andoni Iraola has reiterated in his press conference that he needs wingers, not a winger, wingers. Plural.

That is quite significant in itself because we don’t really see a Liverpool head-coach making such big statements.

It sends a message out to the board and the recruitment team. Even if Iraola appears relaxed in front of the cameras, behind the scenes the pressure is on him, and Hughes to get this summer right and to take Liverpool back to where they belong.

The only way Iraola is going to be able to do that is if he has all the tools he needs at his disposal.

That means wingers, and probably a couple of more additions are needed.

Whether Hughes is going to deliver on all fronts, well that just remains to be seen.

At least he now appears to be working on something, and something that has been in the works over the last two years.

Back when Hughes was still settling down in his new role at Liverpool one of the first moves the club made in June 2024 was to pursue a transfer for Yankuba Minteh.

Then contracted to Newcastle, the Magpies were forced into a sale because they had to comply with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.

At the time, with Arne Slot having worked with Minteh at Feyenoord, the Gambian was seen as an ideal target to provide a back-up in the Reds’ attack.

However, Newcastle instead sold Minteh to Brighton.

The Gambian has gone onto to do well in the Premier League and it looks like Hughes is in for him again.

The Daily Mail are reporting that Liverpool have already had a £50m offer rejected from Brighton and that they are set to bid again for him.

There are suggestions that around £60m could be enough to land Minteh.

In this market, that’s a bargain. With his Premier League experience and quality, Minteh seems like the perfect alternative to Diomande.

And it looks like after two years, Hughes could finally get his man.