Michael Owen
Former England striker Michael Owen
Michael Owen thinks Liverpool should walk away from signing Paris Saint-Germain star Bradley Barcola this summer.
Liverpool have turned to Barcola to fill the void left by Mohamed Salah after missing out on Yan Diomande and Michael Olise.
It has been widely reported that they have Barcola on board for this transfer, with it noted that he has indicated to PSG that he does not want to extend his contract beyond 2028.
However, there are still issues for Liverpool to overcome, mainly that the French giants reportedly want around £145m for the winger this summer.
Liverpool are hoping to meet in the middle and have indicated that they would pay around £100m, but Owen thinks they should walk away if Barcola’s valuation remains at an “extortionate” £145m.
“That sounds extortionate, doesn’t it? For someone that’s not proven in the Premier League,” Owen told the Liverpool Echo about PSG demanding £145m for Barcola.
“Obviously played at the highest level, but, yeah, at some point you’ve got to say no, haven’t you? If it gets to £145m, I mean, wow, that’s eye-watering.
“I mean, I went on record a couple of months ago saying if I was Liverpool, I’d go and try to get Jared Bowen from West Ham to replace Salah. I thought that made a lot of sense.
“But, obviously, that doesn’t look possible anymore, so they’re going to have to.
“And the problem is everybody knows you’re desperate for a top-class player, so you’re going to have to pay through the nose. That might be just what you have to do.
“But it sounds extortionate, doesn’t it? £145 million, that’s the number that you’re saying.”
Michael Owen reveals another issue for Liverpool
Owen thinks another problem for Liverpool is that there are not many top-class wingers around at the moment.
“You know, it used to be Salah, and Mane and Diaz,” Owen added.
“There’s so many great wide players [at Liverpool] over the years. And it feels like there’s a dearth of them, of course, now at Liverpool.
“They probably need two. They certainly need one.
“So, yeah, I mean, they do probably need to invest heavily in that type of position. And he [Barcola] seems to be one that’s available, that’s got the quality. And it sounds like there’s no smoke without fire.
“It sounds like they’d be interested, but a lot will depend on the price, I guess.”
Football365