Liverpool Pursues Bradley Barcola as Transfer Saga Intensifies
Liverpool’s chase for Bradley Barcola is moving out of the shadows and into the endgame.
The Premier League club have been in the market for two wingers in the final week of the window, and inside Anfield there is no debate about the headline act: PSG’s Barcola is the priority. Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh currently leads the race over Ibrahim Mbaye to become the second wide addition, but all eyes are on the 23-year-old Frenchman.
Price drops, pressure eases
Liverpool have already done the easy part. Personal terms with Barcola are agreed, and senior figures at the club are in daily contact with their PSG counterparts, working through fee and structure.
PSG are ready to cash in. Barcola, like Mbaye, was left out of the squad for the Ligue 1 opener against Rennes at the weekend, a clear signal of where he sits in their plans.
The stumbling block has always been the price. PSG initially tried to plant a flag at a staggering €170m (£145m). Liverpool never came close to entertaining that number.
The landscape has shifted. After PSG brought in Ferran Torres, Mika Godts and Maghnes Akliouche, multiple reports indicated the asking price had slipped to around €146m (£125m). On Tuesday morning, insider Graeme Bailey was told the figure has fallen again, this time to €140m (£119m).
That change matters at Anfield. Liverpool’s hierarchy have been wary of turning Barcola into the most expensive signing in British football history and dumping that weight onto his shoulders before he’s kicked a ball for the club.
At present, Alexander Isak’s £125m move stands as the record. At €140m/£119m, Barcola would come in below that line. Still enormous money, but not history-making.
Romano: “Deal is alive” as Liverpool prepare big push
Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has now underlined where the saga stands — and where it’s heading.
“On Bradley Barcola, guys, I told you since the beginning, it is not going to be €170m,” Romano said on YouTube. “With all respect for PSG, the feeling of those in the industry has always been that it is never going to be €170m, but it will still be a big amount of money.
“And this is why Liverpool and PSG are having a direct exchange day by day. So, the conversation is continuing behind the scenes.
“I told you the updates, the media updates on this story are not so traditional, like an official bid, this money, accepted, rejected, because this is a direct conversation between directors, between owners.
“So, they are talking in a direct way, Liverpool and PSG, but the deal is alive. Barcola is absolutely, absolutely a deal that Liverpool want to complete in the next few days, and my expectation is absolutely for Liverpool to go very strong for Barcola.
“Then you still need to reach an agreement for PSG to have the ‘Here We Go’. So, that remains the story and Liverpool are going very strong for Bradley Barcola. And then they want one more if Cody Gakpo goes to Tottenham or Man City.”
No formal “here we go” yet, no rubber-stamped agreement. But with the price softening and both clubs locked in direct talks at ownership and director level, Liverpool are braced to launch what Romano calls a “very strong” and decisive move.
If Cody Gakpo does head to Tottenham or Man City before the deadline, that push for Barcola will not be the end of Liverpool’s work out wide. It will be the start of a late-window reshaping of their entire forward line.
