Bayern Munich went hunting for wingers this summer. They ended up with a lesson in just how wild the market has become.
Vincent Kompany wanted pace and flair out wide. The recruitment team identified two of Europe’s most coveted wide forwards: Bradley Barcola and Anthony Gordon. Bayern did their homework, made their calls, revived old contacts. Then the numbers landed on the table.
They walked away.
Barcola: from Bayern target to Salah’s heir
Barcola was the jewel. Bayern sporting director Max Eberl knew him better than most. Their paths had already crossed in his RB Leipzig days.
"To be honest, I already know Bradley from my time at Leipzig. I wanted to bring him to Leipzig," Eberl told Sport Bild, explaining how the relationship had started. "We sat down together and discussed it back then. That’s how I developed a closer relationship with Bradley. So there was always interest there. Of course, we also looked into him at Bayern."
That long-standing admiration turned into a concrete push from Munich this summer. But while Bayern were running the rule over the finances, Liverpool were ready to rip up their structure to replace a legend.
Barcola completed a £123 million move to Anfield, arriving as the man tasked with filling the void left by Mohamed Salah after a glittering nine-year spell on Merseyside. Liverpool had made him their priority, and the two-time Champions League winner with Paris Saint-Germain wanted the move. Arsenal circled, but the forward’s willingness to join Andoni Iraola’s project helped the Reds close the deal.
The fee is staggering. It makes the France international the second-most expensive signing in Liverpool’s history, behind only club-record arrival Alexander Isak.
For Bayern, that was the breaking point.
"When you hear about sums like that, it was too much for us," Eberl admitted. "With Luis Diaz, we made a decision that was also costly, but on a different scale than Bradley."
The admiration remained. The player did not.
Gordon chase stalls at the same barrier
If Barcola was the right-wing dream, Anthony Gordon was the answer on the left.
"It’s no secret that we were interested in Anthony Gordon for the left wing," Eberl conceded. Bayern saw the Newcastle winger as another high-impact option to reshape Kompany’s attack.
The pattern, though, was painfully familiar. Talks, interest, analysis. Then the price.
"We decided we were not doing that because he was simply too expensive," Eberl said.
As Bayern backed away, Barcelona stepped in. Gordon left Newcastle for the Camp Nou in a deal worth £69 million, another heavyweight move that underlined how far the market had drifted from what Bayern were prepared to sanction for wide players this summer.
Liverpool and Barcelona got their men. Bayern got a reset.
Bayern pivot to reshaping the squad
Missing out on Barcola and Gordon did not leave Bayern idle. It forced a different kind of rebuild.
With the club unwilling to follow Liverpool and Barcelona into nine-figure territory for wingers, the focus turned to balance and depth. Ismael Saibari and Nathaniel Brown arrived, while a sizeable group headed for the exit to steady the finances and streamline Kompany’s options.
- Joao Palhinha
- Alexander Nubel
- Daniel Peretz
- Noel Aseko
- Jonah Kusi-Asare
- Maurice Krattenmacher
- Lovro Zvornarek
all departed the Allianz Arena, a clear signal that Bayern preferred trimming and recalibrating to chasing the very top of a hyper-inflated market.
Kompany will go into the season without the marquee winger many expected, but with a squad reshaped to fit within the club’s financial lines.
Barcola’s first steps at Anfield
While Bayern recalibrate, Barcola is already living the reality of that £123m price tag.
Iraola eased him in. The 24-year-old made his debut as a 60th-minute substitute for fellow new signing Victor Munoz in a 2-0 away win at Ipswich, a controlled introduction to English football after his move from PSG.
His first real statement came under the lights of Europe. Handed his full debut in Liverpool’s 2-1 Champions League victory over Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid, Barcola offered glimpses of why Liverpool pushed so hard and paid so much. Sharp movement. Willing running. Those little flashes that hint at a player ready to grow into a starring role rather than shrink from it.
The night still carried a reminder of the step up. The winger went down with cramp and was withdrawn shortly after Alexis Mac Allister struck the decisive second-half goal. Iraola will have to manage his minutes and conditioning carefully in the coming weeks, aware that Liverpool have invested not just a record-breaking fee, but their post-Salah identity, in the Frenchman.
Liverpool have their new right-sided hope. Barcelona have added another electric option in Gordon. Bayern, by choice, have neither.
The question now is whether financial restraint in Munich will look like prudence or missed opportunity when the season’s trophies are handed out.
