Liverpool's Attack Rebuild: Barcola, Mbaye, and Endrick
Liverpool’s attack is being rebuilt, and the plans are anything but subtle.
After a season in which Anfield too often watched attacks funnel into crowded central areas, Liverpool have set their sights on a trio of forwards designed to rip games open from the flanks and through the middle. Width was missing, pace was missing, and the lack of one‑v‑one threat left the Reds blunt against compact defences. That cannot happen again.
The first move was clear. Liverpool opened the summer with Yan Diomande at the top of their shortlist, identifying the need for a winger who could stretch the pitch and run at full-backs. That chase fizzled out, but the strategy did not. The club simply turned to Paris.
Barcola and Mbaye: Paris raid in motion
Liverpool are now deep in talks with Paris Saint‑Germain over Bradley Barcola, with L’Équipe reporting that the Premier League side are preparing an offer of around €115 million. It is a statement number for a statement profile: a wide forward who carries the ball aggressively, attacks space, and injects the kind of speed Liverpool sorely lacked.
The negotiations do not stop there. Journalist Fabrice Hawkins reports that Liverpool are also working on a deal for Ibrahim Mbaye from PSG, another winger who would add raw pace and direct running to the front line. Two signings from the French champions, both built to drive at defenders and drag back lines towards their own goal.
Those deals alone would reshape the attack. They would not, on their own, complete it.
Gakpo’s future and a looming gap on the right
If Barcola arrives, Cody Gakpo is expected to make way, with Tottenham Hotspur ready to move should Liverpool sanction a sale. That potential exit underlines the scale of the transition. One versatile forward out, two wide threats in.
Even then, the right flank would remain light. Mbaye would be the only natural option there, and the squad would still be missing something that has long defined elite attacks: a left‑footed forward who can cut in from the right and decide games.
That is where the third name enters the frame.
Endrick: the Firmino‑shaped idea
Liverpool are pushing hard on the idea of signing Endrick from Real Madrid. The Brazilian has given the green light to a move away from the Santiago Bernabéu, and Liverpool, who have tracked him since 2022, are well placed to act.
Endrick offers exactly what this evolving forward line lacks. He can attack from the right, bringing that rare left‑footed angle Liverpool currently do not have anywhere in their frontline. He can also operate through the middle, which the squad badly needs with Hugo Ekitike ruled out until 2027.
In the right setting, the belief around Anfield is that Endrick could grow into a figure reminiscent of Roberto Firmino: a forward who links play, presses with intelligence, and still carries a decisive goal threat. Not a copy, but a new version of that central reference point, tailored to a faster, more vertical Liverpool.
A triple signing with a message
Barcola. Mbaye. Endrick.
Three forwards, all with World Cup experience this summer, all bringing youth, pace and goals, and all with the kind of ceiling that can drag a team into a new cycle. Liverpool’s attack would go from short of ideas out wide to overflowing with runners, dribblers and finishers.
This is not a gentle refresh. It is a reset.
If Liverpool land this triple deal, they do more than fix a tactical problem from last season. They send a message across Europe: the next version of their forward line is coming, and it intends to run at you from every angle.
