Bradley Barcola is ready to enter Anfield. Photo: Getty Images
Liverpool’s $233m signing of Bradley Barcola is another step to filling the monumental void left behind by Mohamed Salah but it is a signing that has “polarised opinion” amongst Reds fans.
Barcola was Liverpool’s fourth signing of the window, secured on the eve of Deadline Day for an amount that could end up rising to be just short of the Premier League transfer record set by Liverpool for Alexander Isak last season and Manchester City’s deadline day deal for Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea.
A tantalising French, Barcola has been added into the SuperCoach EPL game at £8,500,000, the 10th most expensive forward, a price that sums up the debate amongst the Reds faithful: a tempting price for a player who could be world class but is not yet, but also, is an unknown quantity in a league where the team he is joining aren’t in great form and he is being asked to fill an icon’s void.
“I’m really excited by Barcola,” Garb said on Football360 Today’s SuperCoach EPL podcast.
“It’s nice to see a big player come to the Premier League.
“It’s (an) expensive player and he’s polarising opinion. There’s some who feel he’s overpriced, others who feel it’s a huge signing. it’s hard to know exactly where it will land.”
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With 23-year-old Victor Munoz, signed from Osasuna, the only other solution signed so far since Premier League icon Salah’s departure, there was definitely a thought that Liverpool were light in attack and for top class talent in the final third under new boss Andoni Iraola.
Barcola is a UEFA Champions League winger with Paris Saint-Germain and a 24-year-old talent good enough to be part of France’s dazzling World Cup attacking line-up. But in club land, he hasn’t always been a starter, and with the likes of Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia joined by Ferran Torres this season, he’s jumped at the chance to build a new profile in England.
But, despite that CV, did Liverpool’s desperation to make a splash after Salah see them pay a ransom to the Ligue 1 club?
“I think it’s skewed by a couple of things as well,” Garb mused.
“That’s definitely part of it. I think the fact that he starts for France boosts his rating because he doesn’t always start for PSG.
“So the people who watch him week in, week out who go, they’ve (said you’ve) overpaid for someone who wasn’t even a regular for Paris Saint-Germain, but then others go, well, if he’s good enough to make the French team in that sort of lineup and we saw what he did at the World Cup, he’s got that world class potential.
“He’s not quite world class yet, and they’ve paid a world class price. So I think that’s the interesting point.
“Whereas the view was (Florian) Wirtz was was world class when they got him. (Alexander) Isak was coming off a world class goal scoring season. Barcola is not quite there, but he could become that sort of player. His finishing’s still a little bit raw, but his pace and his ability to beat players, that’ll suit the Premier League. It’s an exciting one, but for the money they’ve paid, it’s not yet a guarantee.”
He’ll join a dressing room that includes Cody Gakpo, despite it looking like the Dutch midfielder was heading to title rivals Manchester City towards the end of the window.
Liverpool held their ground, but that’s a non-move that will also have repercussions.
Cody Gakpo will remain at Liverpool. Photo: Getty Images
“The money that was being offered was the reason why I think some fans were now happy for him to go because eighty five million pounds is a lot,” Garb explained.
“He was the whipping boy last season and I didn’t like that. He’d scored eighteen and sixteen goals in the two seasons previous. He came amid a lot of hype. Liverpool snatched him away from Manchester United, who wanted him. He’s experienced.
“I thought the way he was treated last year was was poor. But that’s the way it is now with Premier League fan bases, right? The online mafia takes over and the minute you have a bad month or so, they’re on you.
“Jeremie Frimpong’s the new whipping boy at Liverpool now. There used to be a feeling that Liverpool fans were classier, and maybe they are at Anfield, but online they’re as bad as any.
“And I thought the treatment that Gakpo copped was was harsh, and now all those fans that were smashing him, most of them wanted him to stay. Credit him. Kept his head pretty calm, hasn’t really bought into any of that stuff, and he started the season nicely (with) a goal and an assist, I think, is an important part of the squad.
“He’s versatile and I’m happy he’s staying because he seems to be a pretty popular member amongst the players as well.”
Gakpo is currently valued at £7,740,000 in the forward positions on SuperCoach, a very tempting price for a player who, if he hits his stride, will wrack up points for goals, assists but also some of the more industrious categories that SuperCoach rewards.
For more on the transfer window and deadline day, including winners, losers and what it all means, watch here, or as a podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, searching Football360 Today.
Some of the new names into the SuperCoach EPL game you could consider, or moves you need to be aware of are the likes of Manchester City’s Jack Grealish now being at Everton (£8,590,000), Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye now being at City (£8,210,000) and for a wildcard cheapie, winger Mykhailo Mudryk, who moved from Chelsea to Tottenham (£4,500,000).
Other new names you might flirt with include Sunderland’s new attacker Malick Fofana, lured from Lyon and valued at just £4,500,000, while World Cup sensation Ibrahim Mbaye arrives at Aston Villa but for just £3,900,000.
Newcastle’s £51m deadline-day capture Matias Fernández-Pardo (£4,500,000) is another one to watch, particularly given his attacking pedigree, while Fulham’s Hugo Larsson (£4,200,000) and Ipswich’s Zian Flemming (£6,990,000) could provide cheaper midfield alternatives. At the back, Aston Villa’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis (£4,740,000) and Everton’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles (£6,500,000) are two more budget options worth keeping an eye on.
Meanwhile, Iraola confirmed that Barcola could feature as soon as Saturday AEST’s clash with Ipswich, although while happy with landing his headline signing to make it four for the window at a league high net spend, he admitted his squad still probably fell short of a couple of key targets.
“We are very happy with Bradley,” Iraola said in his pre-match news conference. “It was our priority, let’s say, to sign a very, very good player in that position. He has come also with the right mentality. I liked from him that he wanted Liverpool a lot.
“He just wanted to come here and I think that is a good first sign. Being the player that he is and the things that he has won recently, he has come with the willingness to help us. I am very happy with him and he trained well with us. If everything goes well in training today, he will definitely be available for tomorrow’s game.”
New Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola. Photo: X / Liverpool FC.
He added: “I’m very happy with all the signings we’ve made,” the Liverpool boss said. “Three or four signings with Jérémy, I’m very happy with all the signings. I know the next question — ‘Do you want more signings in other positions?’ At the end the club has decided those signings we have done are the ones that improved our team and our position.
“There were other options we decided not to take, for different reasons: sometimes it is sporting reasons because they don’t improve what you have, sometimes it is economical reasons as it didn’t make sense in terms of the market to do those movements. But I’m happy now I know what we have, I have a lot of quality in the team and now it is the moment for us, for the players, for me to develop what we have.”