Reports in France suggest Liverpool may need to show extreme patience to land Bradley Barcola, with PSG prepared to block the move for now, though TEAMtalk sources can deliver two reasons for optimism to give Reds supporters real hope.
The Merseyside giants are determined to bring Paris Saint-Germain livewire Barcola to Anfield to kickstart the Andoni Iraola era at Anfield and ensure they have an heir to Mohamed Salah in attack.
However, a deal to bring the 29-cap France star to Liverpool looks anything but easy.
The reigning European champions are understood to be demanding a whopping fee for their star and, having witnessed the crazy money thrown around for Morgan Rogers and Elliot Anderson, have valued their star at €170m (£146m, $195m).
And while Liverpool’s opening bid – expected to be lodged in the next 24 hours – is likely to be worth €110m up front, plus a potential approx. €40m in add-ons, structured around Premier League and Champions League success, there is still some hesitancy from PSG over his potential sale.
At current exchange rate, a package totalling €150m equates to £128.5m ($171.5m) – a fee which would amount to a new British transfer record.
Despite those enormous sums of money, L’Equipe claims that might not even be enough for PSG to accept, with the trusted French outlet revealing that the Ligue 1 giants are happy to put the brakes on his sale as they are yet to sign a replacement.
Indeed, the player they had hoped to sign – the former Liverpool target Yan Diomande – is now expected to sign for Real Madrid following a summer of speculation and with the Spanish giants capitalising on PSG’s failure to meet RB Leipzig’s financial demands.
The French giants, though, do hope to soon bring in Maghnes Akliouche and the arrival of the Monaco man could help hasten Barcola’s exit, while sources can also reveal two more reasons why there is strong hope that a move will go through…
READ MORE: Fabrizio Romano, Paul Joyce reveal all on Liverpool signing Bradley Barcola
Liverpool can sign Barcola for two big reasons – Sources
First up, in news that regular readers of TEAMtalk will long since have known, Barcola has made it clear that he wants to leave the Parc des Princes this summer.
As exclusively revealed by sources way back on 13 June, thewinger had already made it clear he was unwilling to sign an extension to his contract, which now has under two years left to run.
And with the player already having expressed concerns over his reduced role for PSG before departing for the World Cup, and having fallen behind Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in Luis Enrique’s pecking order, the timing now feels right for the player to move on.
As TEAMtalk has since revealed, too, Barcola has also given a move to Anfield his own personal green light, with the player fascinated by the Liverpool project and the opportunity to become the main man in one of the world’s biggest clubs.
In addition to the player’s own green light, TEAMtalk transfer correspondent Graeme Bailey also revealed earlier this week that Liverpool bosses are prepared to fork out the biggest fee in the club’s history in order to bring Barcola to Merseyside.
And our article – which revealed that FSG are prepared to demolish the British transfer record – revealed just how Liverpool’s overlords are ready to; it’s safe to say they mean business over his signing and look unlikely to take no for an answer.
Revealing what he knows on the matter, Fabrizio Romano has also added on Wednesday: “Basically, the situation is that Liverpool want Barcola.
“Liverpool have Barcola as a top priority.
“Barcola wants to go to Liverpool.
“Barcola loves Liverpool project and is very tempted about the opportunity to play for Liverpool.
“So, there is no doubt that personal terms can be agreed.
“There will be no problem, no issue, but, as of today, they have yet to reach an agreement on the numbers.
“They will start soon.
“I don’t see any issue, I don’t see any problems.
“Again, Barcola is tempted by Liverpool, and because this story has been reported here several times, so Liverpool want the player.
“The only news from the recent days is that Barcola will not put pen to paper, will not sign any new deal at Paris Saint-Germain.
“And this is obviously facilitating his exit, but still you need to put a lot of money into Paris Saint-Germain’s pockets, and so we have to see what’s going to happen in the club-to-club negotiations.
“PSG will not make things easy in terms of money.
“Obviously, they consider Barcola a fantastic player.
“Basically, the whole European top clubs are looking for wingers.”
FSG need to match PSG valuation
“Barcola is young, is a serial winner, is a top talent is a top player, so PSG will ask for a lot of money.
“So, it’s going to be on Liverpool to decide how much they can invest, if they can match valuations.
“On personal terms, don’t expect any problems, but for sure, Liverpool are going to work hard in the next days, in the next weeks to understand what can happen there.”
In addition to Barcola, talkSPORT have this week confirmed what TEAMtalk told you on July 16 – that the Reds also want another winger currently turning heads in the Premier League, though his giant exit clause does not kick in until 2027.
Should Barcola sign, there is a good chance Liverpool will be forced into sales. To that end, Romano has dropped an 18-word update on Tottenham moving for Cody Gakpo after the Liverpool winger ruled out an alternative move.
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