Bradley Barcola’s Liverpool Start Stalls Due to Injury

Bradley Barcola arrived at Liverpool carrying expectation and intrigue. A 24-year-old French winger, a summer signing meant to stretch defences, drive at full-backs, and add another edge to an already sharp attack.

Instead, his first weeks have turned into a stop-start struggle.

Three matches, no goals, and now his first injury of the season.

Barcola was forced off an hour into Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid, his night cut short just as he was searching for rhythm in a new shirt, in a new league, under a new manager. The knock has proved more than a simple scare.

On the eve of Liverpool’s third-round Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham, Andoni Iraola drew a clear line under any hope of a quick return.

“He is not ready to train with the team yet. He is training on his own, but he has started to touch the ball. We want him back as soon as possible,” Iraola said, speaking to Foot Mercato.

That’s the reality: the winger is back with the ball at his feet, but still away from the main group. Individual sessions only. No contact, no full-speed drills, no real integration.

And the wait will not be a short one.

“He still has some time to recover, and it will take a while,” Iraola added. “With all these long-term injuries, I think Giovanni Leoni has a slight edge over him.”

That last line cuts through the usual caution of injury updates. While Barcola fights to regain fitness, others are moving ahead in the internal pecking order. Leoni, also working his way back from a long-term issue, is now seen as fractionally closer to a full return than the Frenchman.

For a new signing trying to convince a demanding fanbase and an exacting coach, the timing could hardly be worse. The Carabao Cup often offers a softer landing for recent arrivals: minutes, confidence, a chance to play without the full glare of the league or Europe. Barcola will watch this one from the sidelines.

Liverpool, meanwhile, push on without him. The games keep coming. The competition for places only tightens.

For Barcola, the challenge is now brutally simple: heal, catch up, and make sure this early setback doesn’t define his first season at Anfield.