‘Contract formalised’ for £80m transfer in major Bradley Barcola to Liverpool boost

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Chelsea are finalising a £117m deal with Aston Villa to sign Morgan Rogers this summer.DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL EMPIRE OF THE KOP APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAYBen Jacobs confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that Arsenal were only prepared to commit up to £80m to the transfer.The Gunners have since reportedly turned their attentions to Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams, and it raises further questions over their ability to sign Bradley Barcola.If £80m is Arsenal’s ceiling, they can’t afford Bradley BarcolaBy Rogers’ own admission, the obscene price tags that have been floated around his name have seemed a little over the top.

Another bid for… pic.twitter.com/Pj7Q1X9LT9 — Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) July 21, 2026So we absolutely don’t blame the Gunners for not wanting to go above a perfectly reasonable £80m for the England international.Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustHowever, assuming that PSG intend to stay firm to their own reported valuation of Barcola – the floor of which is thought to be around £112m – we wonder whether Arsenal’s alleged pivot to Williams is out of financial necessity.Of course, it’s also equally plausible that Mikel Arteta’s men may have simply valued Morgan Rogers at the stated figure.

Their own internal assessment of the France international’s value may be somewhat different.Liverpool can’t skimp out on a new wingerLiverpool, meanwhile, aren’t in a position to haggle around the £80m mark. Mo Salah’s departure means we simply don’t have the appropriate firepower available ahead of the new campaign.Federico Chiesa is an option on the right, but ultimately wasn’t trusted to do a job for large swathes of the 2025/26 campaign.