The ECHO takes a closer look at Bradley Barcola's start at Liverpool after his huge £123m summer move from European champions Paris Saint-Germain
Bradley Barcola has already scored a Liverpool hat-trick and laid on a number of goals but the feeling remains there's more to come
Bradley Barcola has already scored a Liverpool hat-trick and laid on a number of goals but the feeling remains there's more to come
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When Richard Hughes informed Fenway Sports Group that he planned to move to Saudi Arabia earlier this year, one of the main reasons the sporting director stayed on until the end of the summer transfer window centred around Bradley Barcola.
It's unclear exactly when in 2026 Hughes told his paymasters of his plans but his switch to Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal had become football's open secret by the time it was officially confirmed, the day after a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town on September 4.
Rather than immediately pivot to a new sporting director at the time, however, the decision was made for Hughes to see out the window given leaving at that stage would have jeopardized the existing work done on targets like Paris Saint-Germain winger Barcola, who Liverpool had been locked in talks over.
The 20-time champions had earmarked jet-heeled Barcola as the man to inject some much-needed pace and urgency into their forward line and while those inside the club might bristle at the phrase 'marquee signing', the France international was undoubtedly the standout name of the summer's recruitment.
And in many ways the subsequent performance of Barcola will have a huge say in what Hughes' legacy is to be at Anfield. Alongside Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, the Frenchman is one of three players whose captures have seemingly represented something of an enormous shift in how the club operates in the transfer market.
The Reds now have three of the four most expensive footballers in British history playing for them at the same time in £116m Wirtz, £123m Barcola and Isak, who, alongside Manchester City's Enzo Fernandez, cost £125m.
Those figures include add-ons but the base sums still indicate an apparent shift in strategy.
Liverpool, historically, have never been afraid to break the bank for the best talent and have previously smashed records to land players like Dean Saunders (£2.9m, 1991), Stan Collymore (£8.5m, 1995) and Andy Carroll, whose £35m move in January 2011 made him the most expensive British footballer in history at the time.
But never before have Liverpool committed so much so aggressively in such a short space of time as they have since the end of the 24/25 campaign to reshape their forward line with the additions of Wirtz, Isak and Barcola.
What was described as "a significant gap in valuations" was eventually bridged when the Reds agreed to pay an initial £106m for Barcola after a summer-long negotiation process with PSG.
Liverpool were told relatively early on that the French club needed to restructure their own forward line before showing a willingness to do a deal and after signing Magnhes Akilouche, Ferran Torres and Mika Godts, the green light was finally given in the French capital.
Such was the size of the deal between the two clubs, in fact, that it involved FSG president Mike Gordon - the most hands-on of the club's owners - and vice chairman Amit Bhatia, who was also credited for his part, according to those claiming to have spoken with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
Barcola's arrival, while eye-catching in scale, has been part of the Reds' commitment to bringing in Europe's finest young talents. The average age of the players signed across the last two summers, when around £657m was spent, was just 22.
That fact signals Liverpool's long-term approach to squad building but even though precedents exist for spending big and setting new records when the right players become available, it is understandable if the last two summer windows look like a club adapting to an alternative, carefree strategy in the transfer market.
Nearly three months into his time on Merseyside and Barcola, like the Reds in general under Andoni Iraola, has started steadily with obvious room for improvement to come in time.
Assists against Brentford, Brighton and Crystal Palace have been important in Liverpool establishing the Premier League's best away record with 13 points from 15. A hat-trick at LASK was also impressive in the Champions League with the acknowledgement that tougher tests would come.
The attacker was signed to provide speed and balance to a forward that looked bereft of both qualities during a difficult campaign last season and it's no surprise to learn that Barcola has featured prominently among the Premier League's speed merchants so far.
His top speed of 35.9 kilometres per hour is the second in the league this term while his defensive contributions have also been notable. An average of 3.9 interceptions under Iraola has helped the Reds become the fourth meanest defence in the division so far behind Arsenal, Brighton and Leeds United.
It is up the other end of the pitch, though, where Barcola will earn his corn and Liverpool have collectively been lacklustre so far in creating gilt-edged chances.
The Reds sit in the relegation zone for Opta's big chances created metric. Just 12 from 10 games so far places Iraola's men in 18th, above only Coventry City and Hull City.
No league goals so far for Barcola have been masked somewhat by eight-goal Isak's red-hot form but like Wirtz did at Palace, the former PSG man will have to start alleviating the burden and the reliance on the No.9 in the coming weeks and months.
Barcola's 1.39 chance-per-game average only has him in the 49th percentile in the Premier League and Iraola has to work on ways to get his expensively assembled frontline purring to the point where they are not relying on Isak to make the most of every single opportunity that presents itself to him.
Like Iraola's project on the whole, it is early days for Barcola and while it has been encouraging, perhaps the most exciting aspect is that there is evidently so much more yet to come.
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