Liverpool Pursue Bradley Barcola as Salah Successor

Liverpool are preparing to test Paris Saint-Germain’s resolve with an opening bid for Bradley Barcola, with the French winger emerging as the club’s priority target to succeed Mohamed Salah.

According to reports in The Athletic, the 23-year-old is eager to make the move to Anfield and is viewed inside the club as the preferred long-term replacement for Salah, who brought his glittering spell on Merseyside to an end at the close of last season. Liverpool want a new focal point for their right flank. Barcola is the name at the top of the list.

The pursuit, though, comes with a hard edge. PSG are said to be demanding close to €170m to even consider parting with the France international. Liverpool, for their part, have little interest in being dragged into that kind of fee. The gap is clear. So is the tension.

Liverpool are understood to value a deal at around €120m, a figure they believe reflects both Barcola’s impact in Paris and the leverage created by his contract situation. His current deal runs until 2028, but he is reportedly reluctant to extend, and Liverpool intend to lean on that hesitation as they push to bring him to the Premier League.

The numbers from last season underline why they are pushing so hard. Barcola made 49 appearances for Les Rouge et Bleu in the 2025-26 campaign, scoring 13 goals and providing seven assists. He did that in a squad stacked with attacking options, often sharing minutes and responsibility. Now, he wants more. A leading role. A team built to let him decide big games, not just decorate them.

That is exactly the kind of stage Liverpool can offer. A club in transition after Salah’s departure, but still a Champions League heavyweight, still a place where wide forwards become global stars. Anfield has long been a finishing school for ruthless attackers; Barcola sees an opportunity to be the next in that line.

PSG, though, are under no pressure to sell from a contractual standpoint. With three years left on his deal, they can dig in, set their price and wait. For them, Barcola is not just a promising winger. He is a key asset in a squad that has already seen its share of upheaval in recent summers. Losing him now, and losing him to a club of Liverpool’s stature, would be a statement they may not be ready to make.

The dynamic is familiar in modern football: a player keen to move, a buying club sensing an opening, a selling club determined to protect its valuation. What will decide it is how far Liverpool are prepared to go, and how long PSG believe they can hold the line.

One thing is already clear. With Salah gone and a new era taking shape on Merseyside, Liverpool are not drifting into the future. They are trying to buy it, in the form of a 23-year-old winger who believes he is ready to carry a giant of European football.