Liverpool Targets Bradley Barcola as Salah Successor
Liverpool’s search for a new right flank talisman is narrowing into a high‑stakes duel for Bradley Barcola – with Brahim Diaz waiting in the wings as a serious alternative.
Barcola the priority as Liverpool chase Salah successor
Mohamed Salah’s departure at the end of last season left a void Liverpool cannot afford to ignore. Victor Munoz has arrived from Osasuna, but Fenway Sports Group want a marquee right-sided forward to anchor the next phase of the attack.
Inside Anfield, that man is clear. Bradley Barcola has emerged as Liverpool’s first choice, with TEAMtalk journalist Graeme Bailey describing the PSG winger as the club’s “top target” for the summer window.
Barcola’s stock has rocketed after his performances for France at the 2026 World Cup, and his stance has handed Liverpool an opening. He has told PSG he will not sign a new contract, a position he has reiterated in the past week, according to Bailey. That refusal edges the French champions towards a decision: sell now for a premium, or risk losing control of the situation.
Liverpool know the scale of the task. PSG are understood to have set a £145m price tag, a figure that reflects Barcola’s status as one of Europe’s elite young forwards in what Bailey calls a “seller’s market”. The Merseyside club are preparing a move but want to strike below that number and, crucially, beneath the British‑record £125m fee they previously paid for Alexander Isak.
The complication? Arsenal remain firmly in the race. Liverpool are aware of the London club’s interest, turning the pursuit into a test of who blinks first on valuation and structure of the deal.
FSG keep options open as Real Madrid’s Brahim comes into focus
Liverpool are not gambling everything on PSG’s resolve cracking. Behind the Barcola push sits a list of alternatives, and one name is moving closer to the front: Brahim Diaz.
The Real Madrid winger, under contract until 2027, has landed on Liverpool’s radar as a viable option for the right flank. A former Manchester City player, the Morocco international typically operates from the right but can also slide inside as an attacking midfielder or switch to the left, offering the kind of positional flexibility that appeals to a squad in transition.
His problem is simple: minutes. Under Jose Mourinho, and with Madrid set to bring in Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig to play on the right, the competition for attacking places is about to intensify. Diomande is earmarked for the right, Kylian Mbappe is due to lead the line, and Vinicius Junior remains locked on the left. That leaves Diaz staring at a season on the fringes unless something gives.
Liverpool are watching closely. Bailey reports that Diaz is among the options being weighed for the right flank, part of a broader monitoring of Madrid’s attacking stable. TEAMtalk has already revealed that Liverpool have made contact with the camp of Vinicius Junior as well, with the Brazilian – like Diaz – out of contract next summer.
The Merseyside club have previously explored the situations of Brahim Diaz, Arda Guler and Endrick, and, according to Bailey, all three could see their futures “revisited” if Madrid receive suitable offers following Diomande’s arrival.
So Liverpool wait, plan and probe. Barcola remains the headline act in their recruitment script. But if PSG stand firm on their price or Arsenal win the race, the spotlight could swing quickly to Madrid and to Brahim Diaz, a winger whose career may soon hinge on whether Anfield decides he is the man to inherit Salah’s stage.
