Liverpool Faces £145 Million Dilemma Over PSG's Barcola

Liverpool knew Mohamed Salah would be impossible to replace. What they did not expect was to be staring at a £145 million price tag for a winger who has never kicked a ball in the Premier League.

That, according to Michael Owen, is exactly the corner Paris Saint-Germain are trying to force them into over Bradley Barcola.

A desperate market, a ruthless seller

Salah’s shock move to Trabzonspor on a free has ripped a hole straight through Liverpool’s forward line. Nine years, 442 appearances, 257 goals, 123 assists. Two Premier League titles, one Champions League. Those are not just numbers; they are the framework of an era.

Now that framework has gone, and everyone in Europe knows it.

Liverpool’s recruitment team are racing the clock for a new winger before the deadline. Names like Yan Diomande and Ibrahim Mbaye have surfaced, but Barcola, the 23‑year‑old Frenchman at PSG, has rapidly climbed to the top of their list.

PSG have responded with a number that made even a former Ballon d’Or winner wince.

Speaking to the ECHO, Owen did not hide his disbelief at the £145m figure being discussed for Barcola, convinced the French champions are exploiting Liverpool’s urgency.

“That sounds extortionate, doesn't it? For someone that's not proven in the Premier League,” he said, pointing out that while Barcola has featured at the highest level, there comes a point where a club simply has to walk away. “If it gets to £145m, I mean, wow, that's eye-watering.”

The message was clear: PSG can smell Liverpool’s need, and they are pricing accordingly.

Bowen plan blocked, pressure cranked up

This was not Owen’s original vision for Liverpool’s post-Salah rebuild. He revealed he had previously championed a move for Jared Bowen from West Ham as the ideal successor.

“I went on record a couple of months ago saying if I was Liverpool, I'd go and try to get Jared Bowen from West Ham to replace Salah. I thought that made a lot of sense,” he said.

That avenue now looks closed. With Bowen seemingly out of reach, Liverpool have been pushed back into a market that knows exactly how desperate they are.

“And the problem is everybody knows you're desperate for a top-class player, so you're going to have to pay through the nose,” Owen admitted. That, he suggested, might simply be the reality of this window. But he kept circling back to the same figure. “It sounds extortionate, doesn't it? £145 million, that's the number that you're saying.”

The number hangs over the whole conversation like a warning sign.

From Salah–Mané–Diaz to a “dearth” out wide

What makes this moment so stark for Liverpool is the contrast with what came before.

“You know, it used to be Salah, and Mane and Diaz,” Owen reflected. That trio symbolised a time when Liverpool were stacked with elite wide options, wave after wave of threat from the flanks.

Now? “It feels like there's a dearth of them, of course, now at Liverpool.”

That is not an exaggeration. With Salah gone and the squad thinner in wide areas than at any point in recent years, the club are not just hunting a replacement. They are trying to rebuild an entire profile in their attack.

“They probably need two. They certainly need one,” Owen said, underlining the scale of the task. Heavy investment in wide forwards no longer looks like a luxury. It looks like a necessity.

Barcola: quality, availability – and a brutal price

In that context, Barcola’s name keeps resurfacing. He is young, technically gifted and, crucially, available. That alone makes him stand out in a market where top-tier wingers are either locked down or wildly overpriced.

“He [Barcola] seems to be one that's available, that's got the quality,” Owen noted. “And it sounds like there's no smoke without fire. It sounds like they'd be interested, but a lot will depend on the price, I guess.”

That last line cuts to the heart of Liverpool’s dilemma.

They know they need a winger of real pedigree. They know the clock is ticking. They know every selling club has seen Salah walk out the door and adjusted their demands accordingly.

So the question is no longer whether Liverpool rate Barcola. It is whether they are prepared to let PSG dictate the cost of the post-Salah era – or whether £145 million is the point at which even a desperate club finally says no.