Liverpool's Forward Line Dilemma: Barcola, Gakpo, and the Salah Gap

Liverpool have lived in the spotlight all summer. Long before the 2026-27 window creaked open, everyone knew this squad was heading for surgery, not a simple check-up. A new era, a new coach, a spine that needed reinforcing – it all pointed to another Anfield rebuild.

It has not quite happened. Not yet, anyway.

With a month left of the window, Liverpool feel stuck between plans. Key players are being linked with moves away, big decisions are being pushed closer to the deadline, and the one area that should define the next phase of this team – the forward line – remains unsettled.

Salah gone, Ekitike out, right wing exposed

The picture in attack is brutally clear.

Hugo Ekitike is sidelined until at least January. Mohamed Salah, the man who turned the right flank into his personal kingdom, is now a Trabzonspor player. You do not quietly replace that sort of presence; you either get it right or you suffer for years.

Liverpool have been linked with a carousel of forwards, but most of them are left-wingers. Not natural heirs to Salah’s right-sided throne. In modern football, versatility carries huge weight, and Liverpool value players who can rotate across the front three. But if you want someone to walk in and immediately soften the blow of losing Salah, you normally look for a specialist on that side.

That is what makes the current situation so intriguing. Because if Bradley Barcola arrives, he is not walking in as the Salah replacement.

Barcola ahead of Gakpo

“Bradley Barcola would be signed to play left wing for Liverpool, not the Salah replacement,” Anfield Sector reported via X, adding that the Frenchman would come straight in ahead of Cody Gakpo in the pecking order if Liverpool can strike a deal with Paris Saint-Germain.

Talks are described as slow, with PSG’s hierarchy holding firm on a valuation north of €150m. That price tag alone tells you how highly they rate him – and how decisive Liverpool would need to be to land him.

But the sporting implication is just as stark. If Barcola signs, Gakpo becomes the back-up.

From one of Liverpool’s best to a question mark

That would have sounded unthinkable not so long ago.

In 2024-25, Gakpo was one of Liverpool’s standout attackers. Operating primarily from the left, he pushed Luis Díaz hard for a starting spot and produced one of his best seasons in a red shirt. He looked settled, confident, and central to what came next.

Then came 2025-26.

With Díaz out of the picture at the start of the campaign, Gakpo opened the season as Liverpool’s only senior left-wing option. It should have been his moment to own the position. Instead, his form dipped badly. Performances grew increasingly flat, and his influence on games faded to the point where frustration in the stands became impossible to ignore.

The calls came, loud and persistent: give Rio Ngumoha a chance. Eventually, Arne Slot did just that. The youngster started to get minutes, and with them came a sense that the left wing might not belong to Gakpo by default anymore.

From that point, the links to left-wingers were inevitable. Liverpool clearly began scanning the market, and among the names floated, Barcola stands out as the most compelling fit.

Why Barcola changes the picture

Barcola’s numbers last season tell part of the story: 20 goal contributions across all competitions. Crucially, he did not do that from a fixed station on the touchline. He played across the front three, shifting roles and zones, offering exactly the kind of flexibility Liverpool crave.

That versatility gives him an immediate edge over Gakpo, who, despite his own ability to move centrally, has not matched that same level of impact or adaptability over the past year. Barcola looks like a winger built for a high-intensity, fluid front line – someone who can drive at defenders, drift inside, and still carry a threat no matter where he starts.

If Liverpool manage to structure a deal that effectively swaps Gakpo for Barcola, the logic is ruthless but clear. You upgrade the left, you add another player who can cover multiple roles across the front, and you edge closer to reshaping an attack that has lost its most reliable scorer.

There are still plenty of moving parts: PSG’s valuation, Liverpool’s outgoing business, the unresolved question of who, if anyone, comes in specifically for the right wing. But one thing is obvious.

If Barcola walks through the doors at Anfield, he does not just nudge Gakpo down the order. He accelerates a changing of the guard in an attack that can no longer live in Salah’s shadow.