Liverpool are on the brink of completing their headline summer transfer, with a £120million agreement for Bradley Barcola reportedly close to being finalised.
The Reds made significant progress in talks with Paris Saint-Germain overnight, following weeks of negotiations aimed at reducing the French club’s original £145m asking price.
Liverpool are expected to pay an initial £100m, with a further £20m potentially due in performance-related add-ons. The proposed structure is similar to the arrangement used for Florian Wirtz’s move to England last year, despite PSG initially holding out for £145m.
Barcola, 23, has been Liverpool’s preferred target for several months as they search for a successor to Mohamed Salah, who left the club to join Trabzonspor.
The Premier League side had earlier pursued Yan Diomande, but their offer was rejected before the forward ultimately completed a move to Real Madrid.
Liverpool’s negotiations have been overseen by sporting director Richard Hughes and Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon.
Bradley Barcola is nearing a move to Liverpool after the clubs agreed a £120million transfer package
The PSG and France winger could soon delight Liverpool supporters with his familiar celebration
Liverpool have also explored alternative attacking options this week, making checks on Crystal Palace forward Ismaila Sarr and discussing a possible deal for Brighton winger Yankuba Minteh.
The club would ideally add two forwards to Arne Slot’s squad, meaning a deal for Barcola would not automatically end their interest in Sarr or Minteh. Liverpool also made contact regarding PSG youngster Ibrahim Mbaye earlier this month.
If completed, the Barcola transfer would become the most expensive deal of the summer so far, surpassing Chelsea’s £117m signing of Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa.
Barcola developed through Lyon’s academy before spending the past three seasons with PSG, where he has collected two Champions League medals and three Ligue 1 titles.
The winger represented France at this summer’s World Cup and scored against England in the third-place play-off. Across 152 appearances for PSG, he has found the net 39 times.
Liverpool will hope their substantial investment delivers a stronger response than the club managed last season.
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Despite spending more than £450million on arrivals such as Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike last summer, the 2024-25 Premier League champions were unable to reproduce that level of performance under Slot.
The Reds only secured Champions League football by finishing fifth last term, but that qualification has helped them remain competitive in the race for elite signings.
Barcola has already lifted the Champions League twice and won three Ligue 1 titles
Andoni Iraola is expected to continue looking for another winger even if Barcola arrives
Liverpool began the summer by saying goodbye to Salah, Andrew Robertson and Ibrahima Konate. Their incoming business so far has included centre-backs Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo, along with winger Victor Munoz.
Curtis Jones has also departed after joining Inter Milan for £30m, leaving Liverpool without a Scouser in their first-team squad. Jayden Danns could eventually inherit that distinction.
The six-time England international, who joined Liverpool at the age of nine, had been keen to pursue a move to Serie A after struggling to establish himself as a regular starter at Anfield.
Liverpool opened their season with a frustrating 2-2 draw at Newcastle on Sunday, salvaged only by Dominik Szoboszlai’s stoppage-time penalty.
The visitors fell behind inside five minutes when Anthony Elanga finished a rapid counter-attack, but Cody Gakpo restored parity early in the second half with an excellent strike.
Newcastle regained the lead through Joe Willock just two minutes later. However, Szoboszlai converted from the spot late on after Lewis Hall fouled Munoz.
‘It is a strange feeling. It is not the result we wanted, but the way we scored at the end makes it taste a little better. Even so, we would certainly have preferred to win,’ said Iraola.
‘We could not have started the match in a worse way. It was Newcastle away, the first game of the season, with the atmosphere and their pace in attack, and then we conceded so early.’
‘They punished us and forced us to play from behind, but we never stopped fighting.’