Barcola Excluded from PSG as Liverpool Pursues Transfer

Bradley Barcola has been cut out of Paris Saint-Germain’s plans for now. Not from the starting XI. From everything.

The winger has been excluded from all match-day squads while the club thrashes out his future, with Liverpool pushing hard to bring him to Anfield, according to multiple reports.

Omitted and on the move

PSG played twice last week in competitive action – Aston Villa in the UEFA Super Cup, then Lens in the Trophee des Champions. The line-ups carried a familiar spine, but one omission screamed louder than any tactical tweak: Barcola did not even make the squad for the second game.

That wasn’t a one-off. It was a message.

Barcola has made it clear all summer that he wants to leave. With Liverpool now in talks to sign him, PSG have drawn a firm line. Luis Enrique will not select the 21-year-old for any match-day group until the situation is resolved.

The logic from the PSG bench is blunt. Enrique wants only players fully locked into the project, not those with one eye on the exit. If you are thinking about your next club, you are not in his squad.

Place already filled

Inside the club, the feeling is that Barcola’s role has effectively been covered already. Ferran Torres, Maghnes Akliouche and Mika Godts are all coming in, reshaping the attacking options and squeezing the Frenchman’s path to minutes even further.

There is also the financial angle. With Barcola potentially fetching more than £130 million, PSG are in no mood to risk a training-ground injury or a knock in a cup tie. Protect the asset, bank the fee, reinvest. It is ruthless, but it is clear.

The mood around negotiations is optimistic. Signs point to Liverpool and PSG being able to strike an agreement this week, which would hand Jürgen Klopp’s side another high-profile attacking weapon and draw a firm line under Barcola’s brief, turbulent chapter in Paris.

Enrique’s wider squad shake-up

Barcola’s exclusion fits into a broader reset. Enrique’s selections for the Trophee des Champions offered a sharp glimpse of his hierarchy for the season ahead, with some players clearly elevated and others pushed to the fringes.

The goalkeeping situation, though, remains unresolved. A move for Zion Suzuki from Parma looked all but done, only to collapse at the last moment and leave PSG back where they started in their search for a new No. 1.

So Barcola waits. Liverpool push. PSG hold their stance.

And with the season already under way, the clock on this stand-off is ticking loudly.