Liverpool Intensifies Search for Barcola Before Transfer Deadline

Liverpool’s hunt for wide reinforcements is accelerating, and fast. With the window closing on September 1 and Mohamed Salah gone on a free to Trabzonspor, the champions are moving with intent to plug the most obvious gap in their squad.

Sporting director Richard Hughes and head coach Andoni Iraola are driving the push. The brief is clear: add top-level width, and do it now.

Barcola the priority

Bradley Barcola sits at the top of the list. That much is no secret inside or outside Anfield.

Liverpool have tracked the 23-year-old Paris Saint-Germain attacker for months, turning to him decisively once it became clear a deal for Yan Diomande was off the table. Barcola fits the profile: young, explosive, creative, and already a France international.

PSG were initially believed to be holding out for a staggering £145m. That stance is easing. The French champions are now open to a fee just north of £100m, and crucially, the player’s preference is a move to Anfield.

That gives Liverpool leverage they rarely enjoy at this level. Arsenal admire Barcola and would like to be in the conversation, but the former Lyon academy product has fixed his gaze on Merseyside.

Mbaye on ice, Minteh in the frame

Liverpool’s winger search doesn’t end with Barcola, but it does revolve around him.

The club have also been in the mix for Yankuba Minteh, seen as an alternative to PSG’s Ibrahim Mbaye. Mbaye is on the market and firmly on Liverpool’s radar, yet a £60m price tag for the Senegal international is not one Hughes is expected to sign off.

Minteh, younger and likely cheaper, offers a different pathway if the numbers on other targets refuse to move. For now, though, all roads lead back to Paris.

PSG freeze out Barcola and Mbaye

The situation at PSG underlines just how advanced this has become.

According to RMC Sport, Barcola and Mbaye have again been left out of the squad for this weekend’s Ligue 1 opener against Rennes. Both trained on Saturday morning. Both are fit. Neither will feature.

“Although they were present at training on Saturday morning, the two players, who are expected to leave, are not part of the Parisian group to face Rennes on Sunday (8:45pm), RMC Sport has learned,” the report states.

PSG’s logic is simple: protect assets they intend to sell. Any injury now would blow up their plans to cash in before the window shuts.

Mbaye has other suitors, including Bayer Leverkusen, and his future could split in several directions. Barcola’s path looks far more defined. Right now, Liverpool are effectively the only serious option on the table for him.

Liverpool’s moment to strike

Barcola’s repeated exclusion from the PSG squad is telling. There is no sign of a reintegration plan, no hint that he will be brought back into the fold if a move falls through. The club are acting like a sale is not just possible, but expected.

That suits Liverpool. The Premier League champions need a statement addition out wide after Salah’s departure, and Barcola’s age, profile and preference line up almost perfectly with their long-term planning.

PSG are pressing ahead with their intention to sell. The door is open. Now it comes down to Hughes and Liverpool’s hierarchy: do they push the deal over the line and hand Iraola the winger he wants before the window slams shut, or risk leaving their title defence one weapon short?