Barcola-to-Liverpool Deal Remains Alive Amid Midfield Concerns

Fabrizio Romano is refusing to step back from the Bradley Barcola-to-Liverpool saga, insisting the move remains very much on despite claims talks had been put on ice.

Liverpool, fresh from bringing in Ronald Araujo, Jeremy Jacquet and Victor Munoz, have zeroed in on Barcola as their preferred heir to Mohamed Salah on the right flank. The PSG winger is reported to be unwilling to extend his contract beyond 2028 and is described as being keen on a switch to Anfield, with negotiations between the clubs focused squarely on the fee.

PSG’s stance is clear: they want around £145m. Liverpool, unsurprisingly, are pushing for a compromise figure. A report on Friday suggested the Premier League side had “paused negotiations” over two unspecified reasons, hinting that the deal might be drifting.

Romano is having none of it.

On his YouTube channel, the transfer specialist underlined that Liverpool are “still trying for Barcola” and made it clear he is “absolutely all in” on the transfer happening.

“What does it (the Torres and Godts arrivals) mean? That there is an expectation there could be movements around the situation of Bradley Barcola,” Romano said, pointing to PSG’s recent business as a potential trigger for change.

For him, the Liverpool link has never gone away.

“Because the situation of Barcola remains absolutely linked to Liverpool. I never stopped telling you and I remain absolutely all in on this story, because Liverpool want Barcola.

“Liverpool are negotiating for Barcola, and because I was believing in this news already in April, May, when the story and the narrative around was that Barcola was untouchable. But I remain on this story again today.”

The message is blunt: nothing is dead yet.

“Liverpool are still trying for Barcola. There’s still a gap in financial valuation between what PSG want and what Liverpool offer, but they’re still working for Barcola.

The financial agreement with the player is okay, and now Liverpool and PSG keep talking, exchanging messages and discussing for Barcola.

The deal is alive.”

So Liverpool push on with their marquee attacking target. But as the recruitment team wrestle with PSG over millions, another concern is bubbling closer to the pitch.

Carragher sounds alarm over Liverpool midfield

Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool’s biggest issue heading into the new season sits not out wide, but right in the middle of the pitch.

Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, the former defender did not sugar-coat his assessment.

“The midfield for me is still a huge problem for Liverpool,” Carragher said.

“I haven’t watched all the pre-season games, but I watched the last two against decent opposition – it was Leeds and then Monaco.

And the problem Liverpool had last season was there was space everywhere in midfield. That has not gone away at all.”

The concern is structural, not just individual. Carragher fears the current setup, particularly with Dominik Szoboszlai’s role, could stretch Liverpool even further.

He continued: “That’s only going to get bigger with the deployment of [Dominik] Szoboszlai in midfield.

“It looks like they’re going to play him, rather than as a number 10, almost as a central midfield player alongside [Ryan] Gravenberch and that is just pure box-to-box.”

While Anfield waits to see if Barcola becomes the next big-name arrival, the question lingers: can Liverpool fix the heart of their team quickly enough to make that kind of attacking firepower truly count?