Liverpool have two reasons to believe they could yet sign Bradley Barcola for less than his reported asking price, according to one journalist.
Fabrizio Romano has repeatedly maintained that the Paris Saint-Germain winger is the Reds’ top target in this summer’s transfer window, and there were reports from Sky Germany at the weekend that an opening offer could arrive from Anfield ‘soon’.
However, prising him from the European champions is set to be a fiendishly difficult task, with Luis Enrique’s side understood to value the player at a whopping €170m (£145.4m), as claimed by Ben Jacobs on X in recent days.
That same reporter took to X in the early hours of Tuesday morning with an update on Barcola, for whom Liverpool are gradually stepping up their pursuit.
Jacobs posted: ‘Liverpool have held preliminary talks for Bradley Barcola, but formal club-to-club negotiations are yet to begin. Likely to change soon. Barcola is Liverpool’s leading target, but a deal is price dependent.
‘PSG’s starting point is €170m, which Liverpool view as inflated and unrealistic. Aim will be to strike an agreement for less. Liverpool also tried for Barcola last summer when he was valued around €85m [£72.7m]. LFC have no intention to pay double that number now.
‘PSG’s position is informed by other deals this summer, including Elliot Anderson (£116m) and Morgan Rogers (£117m).
‘Liverpool factor in Barcola’s desire to leave and the fact he has two years left on his contract. Feeling within the club is if an agreement isn’t reached this summer, PSG risk losing Barcola far cheaper in 2027 given he has no desire to sign a new contract.’
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PSG’s reported asking price for the 23-year-old is excessive, so Liverpool would be wise to try and haggle that down if they believe there’s a chance of obtaining him for less than £145m.
If Barcola is keen to move on from the Parc des Princes (as Jacobs has mentioned) and begins to push hard for an exit, his club might be more amenable to granting him a departure, rather than keeping an unhappy player who could disrupt harmony in the dressing room.
His contract situation is a delicate one right now – he might have two years remaining on his current deal, but negotiations over an extension don’t seem to be progressing, a situation which could play into LFC’s hands.
Barcola might be the elite-level winger that Liverpool badly need this summer, and he might be a two-time Champions League winner who’s just had an impressive World Cup (three goals), but the Reds would find it very hard to justify spending £145m or more on him.
They’d almost certainly have to go into the nine-figure realms again to land him, but the two reasons specified by Jacobs might give them a chance of negotiating that asking price downward to a happy medium on which both clubs could eventually shake and get a deal done.
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Barcola is still way too expensive. I think Rayan would be a much better acquisition. And he has PL experience. And Iraola knows him.
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