Arsenal Targets Barcola Amid Liverpool Interest
Arsenal’s summer window was already shaping up as bold. It might be about to turn ruthless.
Fresh from parading £75m signing Bruno Guimaraes in front of a jubilant Emirates crowd on Sunday, the Premier League champions are being tipped to muscle in on Liverpool’s pursuit of PSG winger Bradley Barcola – with one former Gunner claiming he has inside knowledge that could tilt the race towards north London.
Guimaraes is Mikel Arteta’s third major arrival of the window, following highly rated Greek winger Christos Tzolis and French goalkeeper Illan Meslier. It is the kind of early, decisive business you expect from a club intent on staying at the summit, not just visiting it.
The plan was even grander. Arsenal had pushed for a blockbuster move for Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior, only to watch the Brazilian commit his future to the Bernabeu with a new six-year deal. That rejection has not dulled their ambition. It has simply redirected it.
Arteta still wants another top-tier creator across the frontline. Marcus Rashford’s situation at Manchester United continues to be monitored. Juventus talent Kenan Yildiz is on the radar too. Yet it is Barcola, heavily linked to Liverpool, who now sits at the centre of a potential power play between two English heavyweights.
Liverpool have identified the 23-year-old as their preferred heir to Mohamed Salah. They are understood to be ready to go to around £100m for the France international, with PSG holding out for closer to £128m. Barcola, already a two-time Champions League winner with the French champions, has stalled on signing a new contract and is widely expected to leave Paris.
That is where Arsenal’s opening may lie.
‘Barcola wants to live in London’
Former Arsenal striker Perry Groves believes the champions are better placed than Liverpool to convince Barcola – and he insists the player’s personal preference could prove decisive.
Asked on talkSPORT whether the winger would be better suited to Arsenal or Liverpool, Groves did not hesitate.
“I’ve got no dog in the fight, but I would say the Gooners because Liverpool are a team that are in transition,” he said, pointing to the arrival of new boss Andoni Iraola and a raft of signings still bedding in.
From Barcola’s perspective, Groves argued, the equation is simple: who is closer to winning the Premier League or Champions League right now?
“At the moment you’d say it was Arsenal,” he said.
The implication is clear. If Arsenal decide to step in, groundwork may already be in motion.
“So it’s whether Arsenal want to go in,” Groves continued. “If they go in for him, then there would have been advances being made to his people.”
The club, he suggested, cannot afford another high-profile near-miss after missing out on Vinicius.
“They don’t want to be seen losing out on Vinicius Junior, being played like a little kitten with a ball of wool, but Arsenal have to be in for those sorts of players. That’s the level Arsenal are at now.”
Then came the line that will have pricked up ears in north London and Merseyside alike.
“I’ve got a source that says he [Barcola] wants to live in London,” Groves revealed. “I can’t tell you, I can’t divulge my sources. I’ve got a source. I’ve got a mole. Barcola wants to live in London.”
If that information is accurate, Liverpool’s financial muscle and clear pathway on the right flank may still have to fight against geography and lifestyle – two factors that often quietly shape the market.
Frimpong urges Arsenal to go again
Inside the club, the message is clear: one title is not enough. Outside, former players are saying the same.
Emmanuel Frimpong, once a combative midfielder in north London, has welcomed the Guimaraes deal but insists Arsenal must double down.
“Mikel [Arteta] and the boys have finally got it over the line, which I’m very happy about,” he told Ladbrokes. “But they shouldn’t just win it once and be satisfied with that.
“They have to keep on winning it now and dominate just like how Man United and Man City have in the past.”
For Frimpong, the squad is strong but not complete. He wants more wide options and a specialist No. 8 to free Declan Rice from a role he feels does not fully suit the England star.
“I still think we need a couple of wingers and a proper number eight,” he said. “I feel like Declan Rice is playing in a position which isn’t natural to him, so we need a proper number eight alongside him.”
Before Guimaraes signed, Frimpong had already flagged the Brazilian as an ideal fit. He paired that wish with another name.
“And also Bradley Barcola… I think he would be very good for Arsenal. Barcola and Bruno Guimaraes would be a very good transfer window for Arsenal.”
One of those boxes is now ticked. The other is very much in play.
Liverpool remain favourites on paper, armed with a clear need to replace Salah and a willingness to go deep into nine-figure territory. Yet if Barcola truly wants London, if Arsenal decide that this is the moment to strike again at the very top end of the market, the champions could turn a rival’s rebuild into their own statement of intent.
The money is huge. The stakes are higher. Does a winger with Champions League pedigree choose a club in transition, or the one already holding the Premier League crown?
