Liverpool may need to be patient in their reported pursuit of Bradley Barcola, according to an update from Fabrizio Romano over the past few hours.
The Italian transfer reporter has claimed in recent days that the Paris Saint-Germain winger is a ‘serious target’ for the Reds and is ‘top’ of their wish list this summer, although prising him from the Champions League holders could be an extremely expensive endeavour.
According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, PSG value the 23-year-old at more than the £116m fee that Manchester City paid to sign Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest earlier this week (Sky Sports).
Romano took to his eponymous YouTube channel on Sunday morning with an update on Barcola, who’s seemingly keeping his options open and won’t make a transfer decision until the conclusion of his involvement at the World Cup.
The reporter said: “Many of you are asking me if it’s true that Barcola prefers one club more than another. At this stage, I can guarantee that Barcola is keeping everything open.
“First point, while he is at the World Cup with France, nothing will happen. Second point, PSG want big money. Third point, Barcola is not considered untouchable at PSG, according to my information. He’s important for PSG, but he’s not untouchable.
“It means that PSG would be happy to continue with him, but if a big proposal arrives to the player and also PSG, we still have to keep an eye on Barcola. Liverpool are there, don’t forget Liverpool, and also Arsenal, but Arsenal’s priority is Morgan Rogers.”
Romano added: “For Liverpool, Barcola is in the highest position of winger targets.”
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It’s understandable that the attacker wants to keep his full focus on France’s quest for World Cup glory over the next fortnight before making any major decisions over his future at club level, even though deals for other players involved at the tournament have gone through while it’s in progress (Anderson being one example).
With PSG expected to bolster their attacking options with proposed deals for Yan Diomande and Maghnes Akliouche, that could incentivitve Barcola to seek a move elsewhere, something that his club would seemingly be prepared to facilitate for the right financial package.
The reported asking price of £116m+ is staggering, though Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes may seek to bring that down and broker a deal which involves a lower initial outlay and other terms and conditions which might succeed in persuading the Parisian giants.
The Reds will obviously be mindful of trying not to pay through the nose for the Frenchman, but having seemingly missed out to PSG for Diomande, they won’t want their pursuit of another top-class winger to be in vain.
The Anfield hierarchy must make every conceivable effort to try and land Barcola, unless his current club are being totally unreasonable with their demands.
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