Liverpool Near £120m Deal for Barcola as Salah Successor
Liverpool are on the brink of landing Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain in a deal that would reshape their forward line and send ripples through the Premier League.
An agreement in principle has been reached with PSG for a package worth around £120million (€140m), with more than £100m guaranteed. The final details are being thrashed out on Thursday, but the framework is in place for one of the most expensive transfers in Liverpool’s history.
On Liverpool’s side, sporting director Richard Hughes, CEO Billy Hogan and Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon are driving negotiations. Across the table sits PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Nothing is signed yet, but both clubs are now working through the last pieces rather than the big questions.
If it goes through, the move will have consequences beyond Barcola. Cody Gakpo’s future instantly comes into sharper focus. The Dutchman has been repeatedly linked with Tottenham Hotspur and has also attracted interest from Manchester City this summer. A £120m winger walking through the door changes the dynamics of Liverpool’s attack and, potentially, the transfer market around them.
Barcola’s intent has never really been in doubt. Liverpool and PSG held key talks on Tuesday to clarify the terms of a deal, with the 23-year-old described as fully committed to joining the Merseyside club. Liverpool identified him early in the summer as their primary choice to succeed Mohamed Salah, and by July 29 The Athletic reported that they were preparing an opening bid.
At PSG, Barcola has two years left on his contract but has made it clear he does not want to extend with the European champions. His stance has already had consequences in Paris: he was left out of the squad for their Ligue 1-opening 2-2 draw against Rennes on Sunday.
His profile explains why Liverpool have pushed so hard. Barcola operates mainly from the left wing but is comfortable on the right, a two-sided threat with pace and direct running that fits the club’s search criteria almost perfectly. Last season he fought for minutes against Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue, and although he often came off the bench in the latter stages of PSG’s back-to-back Champions League triumph, his numbers still stacked up.
Across the 2025-26 campaign he made 49 appearances, scoring 13 goals and supplying seven assists as PSG retained their Ligue 1 title and lifted the European Cup again. Since breaking into the first team in 2021-22, the Lyon academy product has amassed 39 goals and 37 assists in 152 games — serious output for a player still short of his peak years.
His rise has not been confined to club level. Barcola played a prominent role for France at this summer’s World Cup, featuring in all eight matches and scoring three goals. That tournament confirmed what many scouts already believed: this is a winger ready to carry responsibility on the biggest stages.
For Liverpool, that is exactly the point.
They have needed clarity on this saga for weeks. The longer it dragged on, the harder it became to plan the rest of their window and, crucially, the structure of their forward line. Now, they are close to the answer they wanted.
Barcola is the wide forward they have been holding out for, the one they believe can frighten defenders with his speed, his directness, his willingness to attack full-backs again and again. He fits the brief of a Salah heir not by imitation, but by impact — a player who can tilt games, not just decorate them.
If everything is completed as expected, Andoni Iraola will gain another high-velocity winger to drive the aggressive, front-foot style he wants to impose on this team. It gives him a different balance across the front line, more options to stretch defences, and the kind of weapon that can transform tight games.
Liverpool supporters have spent the summer waiting for a statement move, something that signals where this new era is heading. All roads have led to Barcola.
Now the club just has to get it over the line.
