Liverpool signed Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain in a £123m deal but was apparently a target for another club in the summer
Bradley Barcola of Liverpool
Bradley Barcola of Liverpool(Image: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
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Bayern Munich director of sport Max Eberl has revealed that the club considered trying to sign Bradley Barcola this summer, before the forward went on to join Liverpool. The Reds brought Barcola to Anfield just before transfer deadline day as their final piece of incoming business for this season.
Liverpool agreed a £123million deal with Paris Saint-Germain to bring Barcola to Merseyside, and the 24-year-old made his debut last week with a cameo performance in the 2-0 win away at Ipswich Town in the Premier League.
Several clubs were linked with a move for Barcola before the France international completed a move to Liverpool, including Premier League rivals Arsenal.
It also seems that Bayern had an interest in signing Barcola, but Eberl has explained why the price tag meant that the Bundesliga giants never strongly pursued a deal.
"To be honest, I already knew Bradley from my time in Leipzig. I wanted to bring him to RB," Eberl said in an interview with Sport Bild.
"We sat down together at the time and discussed it. So I already had a closer relationship with Bradley.
"There had always been interest. Of course, we also looked at Bradley at Bayern. But when you hear those kinds of figures, it was simply too much for us."
Eberl also spoke about Luis Diaz’s place in the team at Bayern, who left Liverpool just 12 months ago to sign for the German giants.
"With Luis Diaz, we made a decision that was also costly, but on a different scale to Bradley," Eberl said.
"Diaz is also a player who brings people into the stadium. We are extremely happy with him."
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Barcola could be handed his first start for Liverpool when the Reds host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Andoni Iraola confirmed on Tuesday that Barcola could get more minutes under his belt after his cameo at Portman Road last week.
"I think he's ready to play more minutes," Iraola told reporters.
"He has been training quite normally. The only thing is he hasn't had the pre-season minutes that normally players have.
"We have to consider this, but I see him in a really good place. I think he can play more minutes definitely.
"I don't see him like limited, no, I see him like a normal player with this circumstance that he hasn't had a lot of pre-season minutes to build his form.
"But I saw him playing very well and I think he is ready to play more, yes."
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