Liverpool have reached a transfer agreement in principle to sign their top target this summer in a package worth around £120m
Bradley Barcola (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images)
Bradley Barcola (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images)
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Liverpool have reached an outline agreement with Paris Saint-Germain over a deal worth more than £100million for Bradley Barcola.
The Reds have been locked in talks with the Champions League winners for some time over a deal for the France international having targeted him as their most high-profile attacking reinforcement this summer following the departure of Mohamed Salah.
And significant progress was made overnight on Wednesday with a deal being discussed that involves a guaranteed fee of just over £100m with add-ons based on individual and team success potentially taking the overall outlay up to in the region of £120m.
The detail of the proposed deal is still to be agreed and the ECHO understands there remains work to be done for the transfer to be concluded.
But there are now clear signs the transfer is moving in the right direction for Liverpool with the deadline approaching on Tuesday evening.
PSG had initially valued Barcola at €170m (£145m) after it became clear the player, who has two years remaining on his deal at the Parc des Princes, would not sign a new contract and was open to a move to Anfield.
Liverpool, though, have progressed in closing the gap in asking price, although the proposed transfer would nevertheless see Barcola potentially become the second-most expensive player in the club's history behind £125m striker Alexander Isak.
The Reds want to further bolster their attacking options before the window shuts next week. They have been assessing a move for Crystal Palace winger Ismaila Sarr after walking away from a deal for Brighton's Yankuba Minteh with the Seagulls demanding closer to £80m for a player who is out injured until October at the earliest.
They had already earlier in the summer signed Spain international winger Victor Munoz from Osasuna for £34.5m.
The completion of a move for Barcola could cast doubt over the long-term future of Cody Gakpo, who has been interesting both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City.
Gakpo, though, recently earned praise from new Reds boss Andoni Iraola and scored in Sunday's 2-2 draw at Newcastle United on the opening Premier League weekend.