Liverpool Intensifies Pursuit of Bradley Barcola
Liverpool’s pursuit of Bradley Barcola has moved into a new, sharper phase – and the numbers are finally starting to bend their way.
The Premier League club want two wingers before the transfer window shuts, and inside Anfield there’s no debate about who sits at the top of the list. Barcola is the priority. Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh currently leads the race to be the second wide addition ahead of Ibrahim Mbaye, but the real noise is around the France international in Paris.
Personal terms with Barcola are already understood to be in place. Liverpool’s hierarchy are locked in daily talks with PSG over the fee and the structure of any agreement, with the two clubs’ top decision-makers driving the discussions directly rather than through the usual drip-feed of formal bids and counter-offers.
PSG, crucially, are open to a sale. Barcola and fellow Liverpool target Mbaye were both left out of the squad for the Ligue 1 opener against Rennes at the weekend, a clear signal that Paris are ready to reshape their forward line.
The price, though, has been the battle.
PSG initially tried to plant a flag at an astonishing €170m (£145m). Liverpool never entertained that figure. The landscape began to shift once PSG moved aggressively in the market, bringing in Ferran Torres, Mika Godts and Maghnes Akliouche to bolster their attack. With three new forwards through the door, multiple reports indicated the asking price had dropped to around €146m (£125m).
On Tuesday morning, that stance softened again. According to information relayed by insider Graeme Bailey, PSG have now reduced their demand to roughly €140m (£119m).
That tweak matters. Inside Liverpool, there has been a clear reluctance to heap the burden of a British-record fee onto Barcola’s shoulders. Alexander Isak’s £125m move currently stands as the highest fee paid by a British club, and PSG’s new valuation would keep Barcola just below that line if Liverpool decide to meet it.
Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano now believes the stage is set for Liverpool to crank up the intensity.
“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,”
he said, explaining that Liverpool and PSG remain in “direct exchange day by day” as they work through the details.
The usual transfer playbook – bid, response, leak, repeat – does not apply neatly here. Romano described this as a director-to-director, owner-to-owner negotiation, handled quietly but constantly. No formal “here’s the offer, here’s the rejection” theatre. Just two clubs trying to find a number they can both live with.
What matters for Liverpool fans is that the move is very much alive. “Barcola is absolutely, absolutely a deal that Liverpool want to complete in the next few days,” Romano stressed, adding that his expectation is “absolutely for Liverpool to go very strong for Barcola.”
One obstacle remains: agreement with PSG. Until that is reached, there will be no trademark “Here We Go” from Romano, no green light on one of the biggest deals of the summer.
Liverpool’s plans don’t stop there. The club still want another winger on top of Barcola if they can pull this one off, with that second move linked to Cody Gakpo’s future. Should Gakpo be tempted away by Tottenham or Man City, the need for extra firepower out wide becomes even more pressing.
For now, all eyes are on the negotiation table. The fee has dropped. The player is aligned. The clock is ticking. How far are Liverpool prepared to go to land the winger they have put at the heart of their rebuild?
