Liverpool Intensify Pursuit of Barcola and Mbaye

Liverpool have pushed back to the front of the transfer queue with fresh bids for Paris Saint-Germain pair Ibrahim Mbaye and Bradley Barcola, as the club’s summer rebuild gathers pace.

The Anfield side have already spent heavily on reshaping their defence and attack, bringing in centre-back Jeremy Jacquet from Stade Rennais for £55m, winger Victor Munoz from Osasuna for £34.5m and securing Ronald Araujo on loan from Barcelona. Those three deals set the tone. Now Liverpool are going after the next tier of targets they believe can elevate the squad.

Liverpool refuse to let Barcola chase go cold

Barcola has been on Liverpool’s radar for months. The chase has dragged, but it has never gone quiet.

Transfer reporter Fabrizio Romano underlined that on his YouTube channel last week, stressing that Liverpool’s interest has not wavered despite the early narrative from Paris that Barcola was “untouchable”.

Romano described ongoing negotiations between Liverpool and PSG, with the Premier League club still trying to bridge a clear gap in valuation. PSG want around £130m for the France international. Liverpool have not gone that high, but, according to Romano, they already have a financial agreement in place with the player himself.

The clubs remain in contact, “exchanging messages and discussing” the winger’s future. As Romano put it, “the deal is alive”.

The tension around Barcola’s situation has been visible in Paris. PSG head coach Luis Enrique, without naming the player directly, hinted at a willingness to move on from anyone not fully committed to the project.

“We are a very young, very ambitious team. It is important for us to make changes and look for players who enjoy playing our way and who love playing for PSG,” Enrique said at the weekend. “When a player doesn’t want to come here, or doesn’t have a smile on their face about being here, it is better to find another solution.”

That “other solution” may well be Liverpool.

Enrique left both Barcola and Mbaye out of the squad for PSG’s Trophée des Champions defeat to Lens on Sunday. After the game, he declined to go into detail, saying only: “I’ll talk about the situation after the transfer window has passed.”

Double move tests PSG’s resolve

PSG’s stance is clear: around £130m for Barcola and a reported £42m for Mbaye. A combined £172m price tag is a serious barrier, even for a club of Liverpool’s size and ambition.

Yet a prominent X account with more than 700,000 followers, which claims to work with “five elite reporters”, insists Liverpool have now tested that resolve with new offers for both players.

“EXCLUSIVE: This evening around 5pm Liverpool Football Club drop a double bomb Fresh new bids for Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye. Sources say the Reds are confident the Barcola deal gets done. And they’re quietly hopeful the Mbaye bid lands too,” the account posted.

Liverpool’s transfer strategy this summer has been clear: strengthen the spine with Jacquet and Araujo, add direct threat out wide with Munoz, then go big again for elite-level pace and creativity. Barcola fits that bill. Mbaye, valued at £42m, would add another layer of quality.

PSG, though, are under no pressure to sell cheaply. They hold two valuable assets, a coach publicly demanding total buy-in, and a price structure they believe reflects the market.

Liverpool have made their move. The next decision belongs to Paris.