Liverpool Targets Barcola as Salah Successor

Liverpool’s search for a new right-sided talisman has zeroed in on Paris. Bradley Barcola has moved to the top of the club’s summer shortlist as the Anfield hierarchy work to fill the vast void left by Mohamed Salah’s departure.

Salah, the defining figure of Liverpool’s modern era, left earlier this summer by mutual agreement after nine glittering years on Merseyside. Goals, trophies, records – gone in a single decision. The task now is not to replicate him, because that is impossible, but to find the next reference point for Andoni Iraola’s new-look attack.

From Diomande to Barcola

Liverpool’s recruitment team have already taken a few heavy swings in this window.

Ivory Coast teenager Yan Diomande was the first big play. An offer in the region of £85million went in to RB Leipzig and was knocked back. Leipzig held their nerve, and the World Cup has changed the landscape. Real Madrid are now primed to swoop for more than £100m, with PSG also in the queue, leaving Liverpool to look elsewhere.

Attention then drifted to Monaco’s Maghnes Akliouche. An initial approach went in, but again PSG were there too, lodging multiple bids of their own. Liverpool have at least shown they are prepared to move decisively when they truly believe in a target: they have already triggered the £34.5m release clause of Spain winger Victor Munoz at Osasuna, the only completed signing so far in the Iraola era.

But the Salah question still hangs over everything. And that is where Barcola comes in.

A rising star, a hardline club

Barcola, 23, is under contract at PSG until 2028, but the relationship looks strained.

Reports in France and England suggest the forward is keen to leave the Parc des Princes in this window and has no interest in extending his deal. The frustration is understandable: he started back-to-back Champions League finals on the bench under Luis Enrique, watching the biggest nights of his career unfold without him in the XI.

On the pitch, his numbers last season were those of a player ready for a bigger role. Thirteen goals and seven assists in 49 appearances across all competitions for a PSG side that swept through domestic football. Then three more goals in eight games for France at the World Cup in North America, where the world champions stumbled to a disappointing fourth-place finish.

Those figures, and the broader market, have emboldened PSG. Over the weekend, reports claimed the French champions slapped a £145m price tag on Barcola. Inside the club, recent English deals have not gone unnoticed: Chelsea paying £117m for Morgan Rogers, Manchester City spending £116m on Elliot Anderson. PSG see those fees, look at their own asset, and refuse to blink.

Liverpool, predictably, see it differently.

Liverpool ready their move

For all the admiration, there is a gap – a big one – between what Liverpool are willing to pay and what PSG are demanding. The two clubs remain far apart in their valuations, and that tension will define the coming weeks.

Even so, the Merseyside club are not standing still. Sky Sports report that Liverpool have prepared a first offer for Barcola after holding preliminary talks with his representatives. The next step is clear: an official approach to PSG is coming.

This is where the window sharpens. Liverpool know they cannot drift into the new season hoping Salah’s absence will somehow solve itself. Iraola’s system demands intensity, direct running, and a wide forward who can both finish and create. Barcola, with his blend of pace, end product and big-game exposure, fits the profile.

Whether he will fit the budget is another matter entirely.