Liverpool Targets Bradley Barcola as Winger Search Intensifies
Liverpool’s search for wide reinforcements is accelerating as the transfer window ticks towards its September 1 close, with the club locked in on Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola as their priority target.
Mohamed Salah’s free-transfer exit to Trabzonspor has left a glaring hole on the flanks, and the lack of depth out wide has become too big to ignore. Sporting director Richard Hughes and head coach Andoni Iraola are now moving aggressively to correct that imbalance before the clock runs out.
Barcola the headline target
Inside Anfield, there is no debate about who sits at the top of the list. Barcola is the No.1 target.
Liverpool have tracked the 23-year-old PSG attacker for some time, turning fully towards him once it became clear that a move for Yan Diomande was off the table. PSG were initially believed to be demanding around £145 million for the France international, a fee that would have killed almost any deal before it started.
That stance has started to soften. The French champions are now understood to be willing to negotiate at just over the £100m mark. Crucially, Barcola’s preference is a move to Anfield, a factor that could prove decisive in the final days of the window.
Liverpool, reigning 2024/25 Premier League champions, see him as a marquee addition who can reshape their attacking options for the next cycle.
Mbaye interest cools as Minteh emerges
Barcola is not the only winger on the radar, but he is the one Liverpool are prepared to stretch for.
The club have also been in the mix for Yankuba Minteh, who is viewed as an alternative to PSG’s Ibrahim Mbaye. Mbaye is available and firmly on Liverpool’s list of monitored players, yet the numbers tell their own story. A £60m outlay for the Senegal international is highly unlikely to get the green light from Hughes.
Minteh, by contrast, represents a different profile and a different price point, giving Liverpool room to manoeuvre while they push hard for Barcola.
PSG freeze out Barcola and Mbaye
In Paris, the situation is becoming impossible to ignore. RMC Sport report that both Barcola and Mbaye have once again been left out of the PSG squad for this weekend’s Ligue 1 opener against Rennes.
“Although they were present at training on Saturday morning, the two players, who are expected to leave, are not part of the Parisian group to face Rennes on Sunday (8:45pm), RMC Sport has learned,” the outlet stated.
The logic is cold but clear: PSG do not want to risk injuries that could derail significant sales in the current window. Both players trained, both remain under contract, yet neither will be on the team sheet.
Mbaye has other admirers, including Bayer Leverkusen, so PSG can afford to wait on that front. Barcola’s situation feels different. Right now, Liverpool look like the only serious option on the table for the former Lyon academy product, despite interest from Arsenal.
Arsenal would like to be in the conversation. Barcola, though, is understood to have set his sights on Anfield.
Liverpool’s moment to strike
Repeatedly leaving Barcola out of the squad sends a loud message: PSG are not planning to reintegrate him into Luis Enrique’s plans. They are preparing to cash in.
Liverpool, then, have their opening. A wanted player, a softening price, a clear path to the starting XI, and a club that needs wide quality after Salah’s departure.
PSG have made their move. The next one belongs to Hughes and Liverpool. With the window about to slam shut, do they turn intent into one of the defining signings of their title defence?
