Paul Joyce confirms two Liverpool summer targets
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Image Credits: Imago ImagesLiverpool’s 2025-26 season has been one of the most turbulent in recent memory.The champions of England just twelve months ago, the Reds have stumbled through a campaign defined by injuries, inconsistency, and a defensive fragility from set pieces that cost Aaron Briggs his job inDecember.At the time of his dismissal, no side in Europe’s top five leagues had conceded more set-piece goals than Liverpool’s 12.The turnaround since has been remarkable, they have scored 12 and conceded just four from set plays in the months after, but the damage to their title defence was already done.Seventeen league defeats later, Arne Slot’s side head into Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford needing a win to pull level on points with Manchester United in the race for a Champions League spot.The scrutiny on this squad has never been more intense, and with good reason.Mohamed Salah, who has delivered 12 goals and nine assists across 39 appearances this season, is leaving when his contract expires in the summer after nine years on Merseyside.Andrew Robertson’s deal is also up and he is set to leave at the end of the season, and questions remain unanswered over Ibrahima Konate, whose new contract despite positive noises has yet to be formally announced.Add in the uncertainty swirling around Alisson’s future, Curtis Jones, and Alexis Mac Allister, and the picture of a club facing a pivotal rebuild becomes unavoidable.Liverpool are outperforming their expected points tally by just two points this season, according to Opta, a marginal figure that underlines how fine the lines have been all campaign.Planning for the summer has clearly begun in earnest at the AXA Training Centre, and The Times’ respected football correspondent Paul Joyce has now shed significant light on which players Liverpool’s recruitment team are eyeing to address the most urgent gap in the squad.Writing in The Times, Joyce confirmed that pace and creativity in wide areas is the priority, specifically with Salah’s right flank role needing to be filled.He wrote, “RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande is among a number of wide players that have been assessed and the list is likely to include Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola also.”“Liverpool’s recruitment team will be considering the merits of several players.”The two names represent strikingly different profiles.Diomande, 19, has delivered 20 goal contributions: 12 goals and 8 assists, in 30 Bundesliga appearances in 2025-26, enjoying a truly breakout campaign.He joined Leipzig for just €20 million last July after a release clause was triggered, having only made his professional debut with Leganes in March 2025, making his development since arrival in Germany nothing short of extraordinary.He became the second youngest player to score a Bundesliga hat-trick in history when he netted three times in a 6-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in December, announcing himself to the continent emphatically.Barcola, 23, offers a different but equally compelling case.The Frenchman has registered 10 goals and 1 assist in 1,488 minutes of Ligue 1 football this season, maintaining a FotMob rating of 7.41 across his appearances, and he was PSG’s top scorer in the Champions League campaign that eventually ended Liverpool’s European hopes.Across all top-five league appearances in his career, Barcola has 33 goals and 27 assists in 121 games, numbers that speak to a player of consistent, elite-level output.For Liverpool, the need is urgent and the summer window will be defining.Two very different players, one very clear mission: life after Salah. Paris Saint Germain Paul Joyce Yan DIomande