Liverpool Target Bradley Barcola as Winger Search Intensifies

Liverpool’s summer has revolved around one problem: life after Mohamed Salah. With the club legend gone on a free to Trabzonspor, the champions of England are scrambling to rebuild the wide areas before the window shuts on September 1.

Sporting director Richard Hughes and head coach Andoni Iraola have made their choice. They want pace, goals and a left-foot that can live under Anfield’s floodlights.

All roads now point to Bradley Barcola.

Barcola the priority

Inside the recruitment meetings at Liverpool, Barcola has emerged as the clear No 1 target. The Paris Saint-Germain forward has been on their radar for months, especially once it became clear that a move for Yan Diomande was off the table.

PSG were initially said to be holding out for a staggering £145 million for the 23-year-old, a figure that would have scared off almost anyone. The stance has softened. The French champions are now understood to be open to a deal just north of £100m.

Crucially, Barcola wants Liverpool. The France international’s preference is a move to Anfield, and that alone gives the Premier League champions a powerful edge in negotiations.

Mbaye on the back burner, Minteh in the frame

Liverpool’s search has not stopped at Barcola. The club have also been exploring options on the right, and that led them to Yankuba Minteh.

Minteh is being viewed as an alternative to PSG winger Ibrahim Mbaye. Mbaye is available, and Liverpool do like him, but the numbers are ugly. A £60m fee for the Senegal international is not a deal Hughes is expected to green-light.

So the Mbaye chase is stalling, if not over. Minteh sits in the “viable” category. Mbaye, for now, does not.

PSG freeze out Barcola and Mbaye

The situation in Paris underlines how close this window is to breaking open. According to RMC Sport, both Barcola and Mbaye have again been left out of the PSG squad for this weekend’s Ligue 1 opener against Rennes.

“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.

The logic is simple: protect the assets. PSG do not want an injury derailing their chances of cashing in on either winger before the window closes.

Mbaye has admirers elsewhere. Bayer Leverkusen are among the clubs watching his situation, and there is likely to be a market for him if Liverpool walk away completely.

Barcola’s case is different.

Liverpool in pole position

Right now, Liverpool look like the only serious destination on the table for Barcola. Arsenal have shown interest and would like to be in the conversation, but the former Lyon academy product is focused on Anfield.

His repeated exclusion from the PSG squad is telling. This is not a player being eased back or rotated. He is being frozen out. That points to one thing: PSG are working towards a sale, not a reintegration.

For Liverpool, the path is clear. PSG are ready to sell. The player wants the move. The squad needs the profile.

The question now is whether Hughes and Liverpool are prepared to push the deal over the line before the window slams shut and a rare opportunity on an elite young winger disappears.