Bradley Barcola moves up Liverpool transfer target list as agents offer hope of deal

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Bradley Barcola was fresh off a 73-game season when the attention turned towards his contract situation at Paris Saint-Germain last year.The France international had played a little over half an hour of a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, marking the end of a marathon campaign where he shone.Twenty-one goals and as many assists for a PSG side that won the Champions League under Luis Enrique were enough to spark chatter about his terms at Parc des Princes.On the pages of the influential French publication, L'Equipe, they spoke about him being able to name his price in the summer of 2025. It was "undoubtedly the most burning issue to manage for the Parisian leaders," they wrote at the time.Barcola, in fact, was able to "aim for the top five salaries of the capital club", such was his new-found status on the back of a remarkable campaign in Paris.Eleven months on, however, Barcola remains on the same terms penned when he arrived from Lyon in 2023 and PSG's efforts to tie down the winger have so far failed.Liverpool were linked with a move for Barcola last summer in France, which felt somewhat like a red herring given the eye-watering outlay already committed for £116m Florian Wirtz and £79m Hugo Ekitike at a time when Alexander Isak, who eventually made a £125m move from Newcastle United, was the overriding priority at Anfield.However, with the Reds increasingly resigned to the prospect of their No.1 transfer target - the £100m-rated Yan Diomande - choosing PSG as his next destination, alternatives must now be assessed."Wingers, wingers, wingers," was how Liverpool's summer transfer strategy was described to the ECHO recently and with Diomande keen on a PSG move, should Leipzig relent, Barcola ranks highly on the list of alternatives, having signed Victor Munoz from Osasuna earlier this month.As someone who left Lyon for a fee of £40m at the age of 20, Liverpool have long been aware of the talents of Barcola.

A move to PSG, however, might have left many inside Anfield feeling as though hopes had been dashed. But three years on, the France international perhaps stands at something of a crossroads.Searing pace and an output that has seen him register 25 goals and 13 assists across the last two full Ligue 1 seasons, the Les Blues winger has plenty of what the current Reds squad are crying out for just now.The club had communicated their willingness to pay up to £86m for 19-year-old Diomande earlier this month but a pivot to Barcola would make sense if the Ivory Coast winger moves to Paris this summer.Barcola is already competing for a place in a team that has a ludicrous amount of talent to choose from in the forward areas with the majestic Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue and current Ballon d'Or holder Ousmane Dembele all regulars with Goncalo Ramos, Kang-in Lee and highly-rated youngster Ibrahim Mbaye providing back-up.PSG are also reportedly eyeing a deal for Monaco's Maghnes Akliouche, which would further complicate matters for Barcola, who was often used from the bench for Enrique as the Ligue 1 giants retained the Champions League trophy.At Anfield, the inverse is true: a gaping hole in the team is waiting to be filled by a marquee arrival after Mohamed Salah's departure.Salah's confirmation during the March international break that this would be his final season at Anfield allowed the club to take a measured approach to replacing their legendary No.11.With months to cook up a succession plan for one of the greatest players of the modern era, the club decided that more was needed from £125m Isak, whose maiden campaign was blighted by fitness and injury concerns.One of the ways to extract more from Isak is by providing service from wide players who will no longer have to shoulder the burden of being the main goal source, as Salah was for nine seasons on Merseyside.As a result, pacey players capable of supplying Isak - who scored 44 times in the Premier League across his final two terms with Newcastle - more regularly have been drawn up on the shortlists.The influential Transfermarkt website notes that Barcola is represented by the Portuguese agency Gestifute, with whom Liverpool have a long-standing and healthy relationship.

In 2018, the club were hugely impressed by the discretion shown when a deal was hatched to sign Fabinho in a £40m transfer from Monaco.Two years later, when Diogo Jota moved from Wolves, Liverpool were once more thankful for how they sealed a £45m deal in the shadows and the lines of communication with the Jorge Mendes-owned organisation have been open for a number of years now.It's an element could yet prove integral as Liverpool look to move on from Diomande.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page