Jamie Carragher is right about the most confusing aspect of Liverpool’s transfer strategy this summer

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Photo Credit: Getty Images/Sarah Stier/FIFA This summer, the hot pursuit of a £100m+ deal for Bradley Barcola once again poses more questions than answers, with the Frenchman not really solving many of Liverpool’s current problems.What is more, as Jamie Carragher has pointed out in an interview with Sky Sports, Liverpool decided they did not want Barcola last year, pointing to the need to keep a clear pathway for Rio Ngumoha. 12 months on, the Frenchman arriving will surely still impact on Ngumoha’s game time, so what has changed?Carragher voices fan confusion over Barcola situationBarcola is a super player, and he is better than Ngumoha – and all of Liverpool’s other wingers – right now.

But, as Carragher points out, Liverpool’s decision not to sign him in 2025 and come back for much more money one year later reeks of a club who have a muddled picture of what they want.“I think his [Ngumoha’s] position is on the left right now, and the reason I’m a little bit confused with that, is because last season, when Liverpool sold Luis Diaz, the noises coming from the club were that ‘we’re not signing a left winger because we’ve got Gakpo and we also don’t want to sort of block the path of Rio Ngumoha,’ and you think ‘okay,’ you understand that to a certain extent,” said the former centre-back.READ MORE: Andoni Iraola sounds like he wants a four-man Liverpool attack featuring Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz“But Rio is now 12 months on, he’s proven that he looks a tasty player, and you think Liverpool might have a player there for the future. Carragher has hit the nail on the head about Liverpool’s lack of joined-up thinking in the transfer market for the time being.There is a clear need to bolster the attack, everyone understands that, but surely the priority should be to target a right winger to replace Mohamed Salah, rather than add more to the left?Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty ImagesThe picture becomes even more frustrating when you factor in that Liverpool tried so hard to sign Yan Diomande this summer, with the Ivorian reportedly told that he would be playing on the right under Andoni Iraola.To then pivot to Barcola makes little sense, especially when they clearly saw him as a left-sided player last year.The reason for the U-turn is perhaps because the right winger market is so scarce right now, and Liverpool seemingly feel that Ngumoha will get enough game time switching between the left and right wing.But with such a vast and expensive scouting system in place, surely the Reds could take less of a gamble on Ngumoha’s development and bring in a more naturally right-sided option before looking at Barcola?Somewhere along the line it feels like Liverpool started trying to be too clever with their business, and have ended up with a mismatched, unbalanced squad and are now scrambling to try and bring things back to stasis.

Maybe Liverpool would be better off signing two or three €50m players… Photo Credit: Getty Images/Catherine Ivill/AMA “I’d love Barcola at Liverpool, but he’s a left winger for me,” Carragher summed up. In terms of balance of the squad, it’s not the position Liverpool need right now, they need a right winger.”Until we see what the plan is out on the pitch, an air of confusion will remain over Liverpool’s transfer business.