Liverpool's Summer Rebuild: Beyond Barcola and Mbaye
Julien Laurens has warned that Liverpool’s summer rebuild in attack cannot stop at Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye – not if they are serious about life after Mohamed Salah.
The Reds are pushing hard to prise Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain, with team-mate Mbaye also on their radar as part of an ambitious double swoop. Club officials are in Paris trying to drive the price down and get both deals over the line.
But Laurens, speaking on Sky Sports at 17:45 on Tuesday, August 18, believes that even if Liverpool land the PSG pair, they will still be one forward short.
He pointed to the long-term injury to Hugo Ekitike and the uncertainty over Cody Gakpo’s future as key reasons why.
“I still think that until [Hugo] Ekitike comes back from injury – it’s a long one, we’re not sure exactly when it will be – they probably need a back up to Alexander Isak. Especially if Cody Gakpo goes,” Laurens said.
“You’re only left really with Isak as your nine. Ok, you could look at [Federico] Chiesa, you could look at maybe other options like a [Dominik] Szoboszlai as a false nine, or Curtis Jones as a false nine.
“But I still think they would need a backup striker there until Ekitike comes back.
“It could be a loan, it could be like the [Ronald] Araujo deal they did for the defence.
“Then also that midfield needs a bit of a rebuild, especially for the way Iraola wants to play, very different to Arne Slot. I’m not sure right now this midfield is exactly what he would want.”
The message is clear: Liverpool’s attacking puzzle is not complete with just Barcola and Mbaye. There is a gap down the middle that a stopgap striker might have to fill.
Huge outlay, room for negotiation
PSG have slapped a £145million valuation on Barcola, a figure that would make him one of the most expensive signings in Liverpool’s history. Adding Mbaye on top of that initially looked like an eye-watering package.
Inside Anfield, though, there is a feeling that the numbers can be dragged down.
Barcola’s price is believed to be negotiable to around £125million, while Mbaye could drop to as low as £30million. That would put the combined outlay at roughly £155million – still enormous, but more palatable for two players expected to form a big part of Liverpool’s next attacking era.
TEAMtalk report that Liverpool officials are already on the ground in Paris, working to close the gap in valuations. There is still distance between the clubs, yet the sense from Merseyside is that these are deals worth pushing to the limit for.
One factor plays in Liverpool’s favour: both Barcola and Mbaye have been frozen out of the PSG setup while their futures are resolved. That stance underlines the French champions’ willingness to cash in and move on, and it hands Liverpool leverage as they try to knock the price down.
For now, though, there is no clarity over how close Liverpool truly are. The talks are active, the intent is strong, but the finish line has not yet come into view.
What does seem clear is the knock-on effect. If Liverpool do manage to land both Barcola and Mbaye, a permanent move for a centre-forward becomes highly unlikely given the financial outlay. At that point, any extra striker would almost certainly have to arrive on loan.
With the window ticking down and top-level loan options notoriously hard to secure late in the summer, the question looms: can Liverpool really reshape their attack and rebuild their midfield in one frantic stretch, or will they be forced to gamble on what they already have up front?
