Liverpool's Pursuit of Bradley Barcola from PSG
Liverpool’s search for the heir to Mohamed Salah has taken a sharp turn towards Paris – and this time, the door is actually open.
Bradley Barcola, once deemed off limits by Paris Saint-Germain, has moved into play. His camp is now actively sounding out a move, and Liverpool have been given what has been described as a “significant green light” to go after the 23-year-old winger this summer.
This is not a tentative enquiry. This is Liverpool circling a player who, according to Fabrizio Romano, has sat “on the very top of their shortlist” since the 2025 summer window was first mapped out.
From “untouchable” to available
Only a week ago, Barcola was still being talked about in Paris as untouchable. That status has evaporated.
Romano spelled it out: Barcola now has “serious possibilities” to leave PSG in this window. Contract talks between the player and the French champions are “completely on standby”, stalled for a long time, and there is no agreement in sight over a new deal. For a club that usually moves decisively to lock in its prized assets, that standstill speaks loudly.
PSG will not be forced into a cut-price sale. Far from it. The French champions are ready to listen, but only to what they consider “important money”. The figures being discussed are huge: around €150m (£128m, $172m). That fee would not just test Liverpool’s resolve – it would smash their own transfer record, set only last summer when they paid £125m to bring Alexander Isak from Newcastle.
Barcola’s future now rests on two questions: how far Liverpool are willing to go, and whether the player rebuffs any fresh contract proposal from PSG. Should he turn another extension down, PSG are prepared, albeit reluctantly, to “consider sanctioning a sale”.
Arsenal in the frame – but not at the front
Liverpool are not alone in the chase. Arsenal are also in the conversation, making calls and keeping their interest warm.
Yet the hierarchy in north London is clear. Romano has indicated that for Arsenal, “position number one is Rogers, position number two is Barcola”, with other winger options also under review. Barcola is admired at the Emirates, but he is not the headline act of their summer plans.
At Liverpool, the picture looks very different. With Salah edging closer to an exit towards either the Saudi Pro League or Major League Soccer, the need for a top-tier wide forward is no longer theoretical. It is urgent.
The Reds have already moved once in that area, bringing in Spain international Victor Munoz from Osasuna for around €40m. That deal, though, was never meant to be the Salah solution. Liverpool want another winger of true elite profile. Barcola fits that bill.
Diomande, PSG and a twist in the market
This pursuit has been shaped by another transfer saga running in parallel.
RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande had been Liverpool’s leading target earlier in the summer. The Ivory Coast international looked like the chosen man to refresh the front line. Then the tide changed. Diomande has made it clear he wants PSG.
That shift created a ripple effect. The prospect of PSG spending big on Diomande raised the possibility that they might need to recoup funds, and Barcola’s name quickly surfaced as the potential collateral. At first, the idea clashed with talk from Paris that Barcola would not be touched. Now, those rumours have hardened into a real scenario: Diomande to PSG, Barcola available for the right bid.
Liverpool, once locked on Diomande, suddenly find themselves staring at a different opportunity. And for some, missing out on the Leipzig forward might not be a setback at all.
“A blessing” – Murphy backs Barcola over Diomande
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy believes the club could end up in a stronger position by pivoting away from Diomande and towards Barcola.
Speaking to BetWright, Murphy did not hide his doubts about the Diomande numbers. The Leipzig forward, he argued, is “a super talent, but that’s all he is: a talent. He’s a prospect.” The idea of spending “over £100m for a player who hasn’t a body of work that justifies that money” never sat comfortably with him.
“In a way, it might be a blessing,” Murphy said of Liverpool’s failure to land Diomande.
Barcola, in his view, represents a different profile of risk. The PSG winger, he noted, “would be less expensive and obviously maybe surplus to requirements with the signings PSG are making”. Murphy pointed to Barcola’s impact in the Champions League in recent seasons as evidence that he already influences games at the highest level, calling him “a less risky signing”.
There is, however, a tactical wrinkle. Barcola is “more comfortable on the left than the right”, Murphy warned. He can operate on the right “on occasion”, but he is not a natural mirror of Salah’s long-standing role. For Murphy, “someone more used to and suited playing on the right would probably be a better option”. Even so, he remains open to the idea: “But Barcola maybe, too, why not?”
A record fee and a reshaping squad
The numbers involved mean Liverpool cannot drift into this deal. A package around €150m would demand absolute conviction from the club’s recruitment team and ownership.
TEAMtalk report that Barcola’s camp are “actively exploring” a move away from PSG, and that a switch to Anfield now “looks an increasing possibility”. The key hinge remains the player’s stance on PSG’s contract offers. If he rejects another renewal, the French champions are ready to “reluctantly” open the door.
For Liverpool, the stakes stretch beyond one signing. The squad, as Murphy put it, “needs a bit of reshaping”. They have already invested heavily after winning the league, and yet find themselves wrestling with “an incredible conundrum” – how to evolve a title-winning side while replacing a once-in-a-generation forward.
Barcola would not just be another addition. He would be the face of a new attacking era at Anfield, bought at a price that leaves no room for half-measures.
If Liverpool step up and pay it, they are not just choosing a winger. They are choosing the direction of the next phase of the club.
