Bradley Barcola
Bradley Barcola has been tracked by Arsenal but Liverpool are currently favourites to land the PSG winger
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Arsenal were previously considering a swoop for Paris Saint-Germain's Bradley Barcola before accelerating a move for Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior.
So will the Gunners pivot to Barcola if Vini Jr agrees to sign a contract extension with Los Blancos? Here is what we know.
Heading into the summer transfer window, Mikel Arteta, Andrea Berta and the club's hierarchy agreed they would seek to bolster the Spaniard's left-wing options.
There was a feeling that while Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli both made credible contributions toward Arsenal's first Premier League title in 22 years, it was time for a refresh.
Contractually, both were in reasonably similar positions. Despite agreeing to fresh terms with the Gunners in August 2025, Trossard's deal was set to expire next summer before his recent transfer to Besiktas.
Meanwhile, Martinelli's contract also currently runs until 2027, though Arsenal have a 12-month extension clause they can formally trigger to protect his value.
Christos Tzolis came in from Club Brugge to replace Trossard but still, there is still a desire to strengthen if the right opportunity arises and if a sound solution were found, offers would be considered for Martinelli.
Vini Jr is the dream target and a mega-money swoop has been ratified at all levels within Arsenal should he signal to the Premier League champions that he wants the move.
But if that does not materialise and Vinicius opts to stay at Real Madrid, it's not a given Arsenal will immediately throw that money at PSG for Barcola.
Firstly, even if Vini Jr decides to remain at Real, Arsenal will need to understand whether he's signing an extension or whether he's prepared to run down the final year of his contract with Los Blancos.
If it's the latter, they would be prepared to play a waiting game, even if it means upping their contract offer to Vini Jr in 2027 because there would be no transfer required if he's a free agent. Undoubtedly, there would also be rival interest, whereas this summer, they seemingly have a free run at the player.
Vinicius Junior and Bruno Guimaraes.
Arsenal want to bring Vinicius Jr to the club alongside Bruno Guimaraes(Image: (Photo by Howard Smith/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images))
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In that case, Martinelli would likely stay for another season and battle Tzolis for a starting berth. If Vini pens his extension, much will depend on PSG and Barcola's stance on a transfer.
For starters, it was clear Arteta and those within Arsenal preferred Morgan Rogers to Barcola initially. They just weren't prepared to overpay for the England international, who has since joined Chelsea in a staggering £117million deal.
PSG's valuation of Barcola is around £145.8m (€170m). It's a whopping figure and only Neymar's and Kylian Mbappe's moves to PSG have cost more in football transfer history.
Additionally, Barcola is also said to favour a move to Liverpool. It's been reported that he's already spoken to Andoni Iraola and he's giving his priority to the Reds over other interested clubs.
That's not really the issue. The issue for Liverpool is striking a deal with PSG because of their huge valuation. If Arsenal eventually decide to facilitate an offer close to that number, there's every chance they will be able to entice Barcola into a move to the Emirates having watched him in-person at the World Cup.
Bradley Barcola
Bradley Barcola is thought to favour a move to Liverpool over Arsenal(Image: 2026 Getty Images)
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It's worth noting that Vini Jr is considered an elite world star, a player who would be transformative commercially, while Barcola is still sharpening his tools (he is not even an undisputed starter for PSG or France). The potential is clear, however, signing a global icon is one thing, but paying similar money for a relatively unpolished gem is another.
Right now, we're of course talking hypothetically because Arsenal are currently focused on Vinicius. We could be about to find out what happens beyond that in the coming weeks.
European champions PSG have already sold Goncalo Ramos and Lee Kang-in and they are also discussing offloading Ibrahim Mbaye to Liverpool in a separate deal.
Maghnes Akliouche is arriving from Monaco but PSG also want Ferran Torres and Mika Godts, another profile Arsenal have considered, and those deals could prove key when proceeding with further sales.
PSG were thumped 3-0 by Mallorca in a pre-season friendly earlier this week and they will not want to enter the new season with a weaker squad than the one that fired them to domestic and continental glory last term.
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