Why Bradley Barcola was never going to take Mohamed Salah’s empty No. 11 shirt at Liverpool

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Bradley Barcola is a Liverpool player after being officially announced by the Reds on Monday.After a long summer of waiting, Liverpool finally got their man one day before the transfer deadline, having paid an initial £106m to sign him.Given the size of the deal – and the fact that he is the Reds’ marquee arrival of the summer, there had been a feeling that Barcola may take Mohamed Salah‘s newly vacant No. Bradley Barcola is a Red! 🔴What are you expecting from his first season at Anfield?

The Frenchman has joined in a whopping £123m move from PSG Photo Credit: Getty Images/Liverpool FC Barcola explains his shirt numberLiverpool are no strangers to having players come and pick a lucky, slightly unusual squad number.Trent Alexander-Arnold never did wear anything other than No. 38.Barcola has gone down a similar route, and the 23-year-old credits football game EAFC – and their fictional character Alex Hunter – as being the inspiration behind his choice.READ MORE: Bradley Barcola explains why Liverpool were the only club he wanted after sealing £106m move from PSGPhoto by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images“Yes it’s true, it’s my favourite number,” he said.

“When I was little I played EAFC, so I had promised myself to have this number from Alex Hunter and in the end I was lucky to have it, and that’s why I hope to have it for the whole of my career.”Barcola will hope to do better than the last player to wear the number for Liverpool – Arthur Melo, who played only 13 minutes for the Reds while on loan in 2022/23.Dominic Solanke and Fabio Borini wore the shirt fairly recently as well, with a handful of other players who barely made an impression with Liverpool. He could have followed in Salah’s footsteps, but in this respect, Barcola has the chance to make his very own iconic shirt at Anfield.