Liverpool have the upper hand over Arsenal in the race to sign Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola, according to The Sun.
The Gunners recently suffered a big setback with Morgan Rogers choosing to join Chelsea from Aston Villa for a club-record £117 million.
Barcola has been identified as an alternative target by Arsenal, but Liverpool are confident of beating Mikel Arteta’s side to the Frenchman.
The Merseyside giants are in the ‘driving seat’ to land the Lyon graduate, who is expected to cost around £100m, according to The Sun.
PSG could sanction the Frenchman’s exit once they secure a deal for RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande.
Arsenal’s transfer market misery continues
The Gunners were determined to bring Rogers to the club. Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard personally spoke with the Englishman.
Despite this, Arsenal did not make much progress on the transfer package behind the scenes.
The Times claim that the Gunners could have wrapped up a deal for £100m weeks ago, but the waiting game contributed to the Blues hijacking their pursuit.
Arsenal have shifted their focus to Barcola, but he won’t come on the cheap either.
The Sun reportedly value him at £100m, but PSG believe he is worth more than the £116m Manchester City spent to purchase midfielder Elliot Anderson.
The Gunners refused to match Chelsea’s £117m offer for Rogers after being informed by Villa. We feel they won’t overpay for Barcola either this summer.
Hence, it is unsurprising that Liverpool have moved into pole position to sign the France international, having followed him after the setback on Diomande.
The Reds have had time to negotiate with Barcola’s agents too after Diomande snubbed a move in late June.
As things stand, Arsenal are set for more misery in the transfer market, given they have yet to find a marquee left winger ahead of the new season.
Club Brugge star Christos Tzolis is poised to join this week to bolster the left-wing position, but he is considered a backup for the marquee signing.