Liverpool are within touching distance of landing Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain in a deal that would reshape their forward line and, potentially, the Premier League title race.
An agreement in principle has been struck with PSG for a package worth around £120million (€140m), with more than £100m guaranteed. The paperwork is not yet signed, the deal not yet sealed, but the framework is in place and the final details are being thrashed out on Thursday.
On Liverpool’s side, sporting director Richard Hughes, CEO Billy Hogan and Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon are driving negotiations. Across the table sits PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi. The money, the structure, the timing — all of it is now in the fine-print stage.
Nothing is done until it is done. Yet the direction of travel is clear. And it leads straight to Anfield.
Liverpool finally move for their Salah successor
Liverpool identified Barcola early in the summer as their primary target to succeed Mohamed Salah. By July 29, the club were already preparing an opening bid; now they are on the brink of getting their man.
The 23-year-old has made his intentions plain. With two years left on his PSG contract, he has refused to extend and sign up for the long term with the European champions. That stance carried consequences: he was left out of the matchday squad for PSG’s Ligue 1-opening 2-2 draw with Rennes on Sunday.
Barcola wants a new stage. He has chosen Merseyside.
He offers something Liverpool badly need. A winger who doesn’t just stretch games, but tears at them. Direct. Aggressive. Purposeful. The sort of wide forward who forces full-backs to turn, run, and hope.
Andoni Iraola, tasked with imposing a sharper, front-foot identity on this Liverpool side, would suddenly have another pacy wide option to rotate, to unleash, to build around. For a manager who demands intensity and verticality, Barcola fits the blueprint.
Life at PSG: impact amid elite competition
Barcola’s minutes at PSG have never been guaranteed. He has been jostling for game time with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue, two of Europe’s brightest attacking talents. In the crunch stages of last season’s Champions League, as Luis Enrique’s side marched to back-to-back European crowns, Barcola often started on the bench.
Even so, he forced his way into the story.
In the 2025-26 campaign he made 49 appearances in all competitions, scoring 13 goals and providing seven assists as PSG retained both their Ligue 1 title and their Champions League crown. That output, from a player not always first choice, underlines why Liverpool have pushed so hard.
Since breaking into the PSG first team in 2021-22, the Lyon academy graduate has amassed 39 goals and 37 assists in 152 appearances. Those are not the numbers of a fringe player. They are the numbers of a forward maturing into a leading role.
Primarily deployed off the left, Barcola can also switch to the right and operate on his stronger foot cutting inside. For a club used to Salah’s devastating impact from the right flank, that positional flexibility matters. It gives Iraola the option to flip wings, change angles, and keep opponents guessing.
World stage credentials
This is not a gamble on potential alone. Barcola arrives battle-tested.
For France at this summer’s World Cup, he played in all eight matches, scoring three times in a run that showcased his temperament as much as his talent. Under the brightest lights, he did not shrink. He demanded the ball, attacked defenders, and carried a threat that translated from club football to the international stage.
Liverpool have long preferred forwards who can handle the weight of expectation. Barcola has already shown he can carry it.
The Gakpo question
A move of this scale rarely happens in isolation. The knock-on effects are obvious, and Cody Gakpo sits right at the centre of them.
Gakpo has been repeatedly linked with Tottenham Hotspur and has also attracted interest from Manchester City this summer. If Barcola arrives for a nine-figure fee, Liverpool’s attacking hierarchy shifts. Spaces narrow. Roles change.
It does not automatically mean Gakpo must go, but it changes the conversation around him. A squad that already includes Gakpo, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez would be adding another top-tier wide forward, one earmarked as the long-term Salah replacement. Decisions follow that kind of investment.
Rival clubs know it. They are watching closely.
What this means for Liverpool
Liverpool needed a jolt in attack. They have spent the summer searching for it. This is the move that has kept supporters refreshing news feeds and scanning for updates.
Barcola gives Iraola a winger who can terrify defenders, stretch games, and hit double figures in both goals and assists. He fits the age profile of a squad being reshaped for the next cycle, not the last. He offers end product, not just promise.
The saga has dragged, as these deals tend to do. Now, finally, it is edging towards the finish line.
If Liverpool get it over the line, they will have paid a premium price. They will also have made a statement: the post-Salah era will not be timid.
The only question left is how quickly Barcola can turn that promise into dominance on a Premier League touchline that has made and broken stars before him.
