If Liverpool are to sign Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain this summer, they may be required to smash their transfer record.
There have been reports over the past 48 hours that the Reds are preparing an offer in the region of £85m for the two-time Champions League winner, but a fresh update from France would indicate that such a bid would be flatly rejected.
LFC signed Alexander Isak for a club-record £125m fee last summer (BBC Sport), and they might need to surpass that if they’re to land the French winger from PSG.
Emery Taisne reported for L’Equipe (via DAVEOCKOP on X) that the European champions value Barcola at a mind-blowing €150m (£127.5m) and ‘remain attentive to the market’ in the event of his potential exit.
The 23-year-old is set to discuss his future with PSG chiefs when he returns to the club after his post-World Cup break, with contract discussions being parked while the tournament was in progress. His current deal has two years remaining.
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Liverpool are approaching a stage where they’ll need to face down an uncomfortable dilemma – do they go all-out for Barcola and invest a substantial amount of their summer budget, or do they walk away because of the astronomical fee but risk wasting the effort which has gone into pursuing him up to this point?
What isn’t debatable is that the Reds need to sign an elite right winger in this transfer window to compensate for the departure of the legendary Mo Salah, and the PSG forward is one of the few plausibly attainable players who’d fit that description.
Sporting director Richard Hughes may feel that he can haggle the Parisian outfit down to a less eye-watering sum for the France international, although LFC would almost certainly have to fork out at least £100m to have any hope of signing him.
One way of looking at it is that landing Barcola would vastly improve Liverpool’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League, and missing out on that competition for 2027/28 would deprive the Reds of nine-figure earnings from participating in it and reaching the knockout phase.
Every player has a realistic ceiling when it comes to their market value, but the Anfield hierarchy must throw everything reasonably possible at a transfer for the 23-year-old this summer. If they don’t, the regrets from missing out could sting for years.
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They will shoot themselves in the foot to attempt to go that high. At the moment they treat Barcola as being 2nd/3rd level as they attempt to bring in Diamande. They also forget that Barcola has an opinion also. We shall see.
They don’ really care, they don’t need money. They turned down a €180M offer for Mbappé from Real when he was entering his last year, knowing he would leave for free.
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