Liverpool Targets Bradley Barcola as Mohamed Salah's Replacement

Liverpool’s search for the heir to Mohamed Salah has taken a sharp turn towards Paris – and this time, the road is clear.

Bradley Barcola, once branded “untouchable” at Paris Saint-Germain, is now firmly in play. PSG’s stance has shifted, contract talks have stalled, and Liverpool have been handed what’s being described as a significant green light to move.

This is no tentative enquiry. This is a live opportunity.

From Diomande to Barcola

Liverpool have already moved once in the wide areas this summer, landing Spain international Victor Munoz from Osasuna for around €40m. He’s talented, direct, and highly rated inside Anfield. But no one there pretends he is the Salah replacement. The club still want a headline winger, a player to define the next phase of their attack.

For months, that marquee target looked to be RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande. The Ivory Coast international sat at the top of Liverpool’s list, the kind of explosive, high-ceiling forward they have traditionally backed themselves to polish into a world star.

Then the wind changed.

Diomande has set his sights on PSG, and the French champions have pushed hard. That potential move lit the touchpaper on another story: if PSG were willing to spend big on Diomande, would they listen to offers for Barcola to balance the books?

Initially, the answer from Paris was a flat no. Barcola, they briefed, was not for sale. But that line has eroded.

Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano underlined the shift this week, stating that while Barcola had been “untouchable” until last week, that is no longer the case. Talks over a new contract are “completely on standby”, and the winger now has “serious possibilities” of leaving in this window.

Liverpool and Arsenal circle

Liverpool are not alone. Arsenal, too, have made contact. Both clubs have been in touch with Barcola’s camp, testing the waters, gauging what it would take to tempt him out of Paris.

For Liverpool, the interest is neither new nor casual. Barcola has sat at the very top of their winger shortlist looking towards the 2025 window, and the chance to accelerate that plan into 2024 has sharpened minds at Anfield.

Arsenal admire him, but he is not their priority. Their number one attacking target remains Rogers, with Barcola viewed as option two in a wider list of wide forwards. For Mikel Arteta’s side, he is a luxury. For Liverpool, he looks far closer to a solution.

What complicates everything is the price.

A British-record fee on the table

PSG might be willing to sell, but they will not be bullied. Barcola is 23, a Champions League performer, and one of the brightest wide talents in Europe. His camp are actively exploring a move, yet Paris will only open the door for what they consider “important money”.

That figure is eye-watering: around €150m – roughly £128m, or $172m.

For Liverpool, that would mean smashing their own transfer record, the £125m they paid Newcastle for Alexander Isak last summer. It would also set a new British benchmark, eclipsing every deal done by a Premier League club.

The message from PSG is simple: if you want him, prove it. Don’t just show interest. Show a package.

A “blessing” in disguise?

If Liverpool do decide to go all-in on Barcola, one former Anfield midfielder believes missing out on Diomande could actually work in their favour.

Danny Murphy, speaking to BetWright, didn’t hide his reservations about the Leipzig forward at the prices being discussed. He described Diomande as a “super talent” but still a prospect, not yet a player with the body of work to justify a fee north of £100m.

Paying that kind of money on potential alone never sat comfortably with him. Losing Diomande to PSG, he argued, might prove “a blessing”.

Barcola, in Murphy’s eyes, represents a more grounded gamble. He has already shown his impact in the Champions League over the last couple of seasons, affecting big games rather than simply flashing talent in domestic fixtures. That, for a club like Liverpool, matters.

Murphy also suggested that, given PSG’s recruitment drive, Barcola could become surplus to requirements in Paris, which might soften the financial risk compared to Diomande. Not cheap, but less speculative.

There is, however, a tactical wrinkle.

The right-wing question

Liverpool are not just looking for any winger. They are trying to plan for life after Salah, a left-footed phenomenon who has made the right flank his own for years.

Barcola is more comfortable on the left. He can operate on the right – he has done so – but it is not his natural side. Murphy flagged that as the main concern: if Liverpool want a like-for-like right-sided specialist, Barcola isn’t a perfect fit.

That doesn’t rule him out. It just raises questions about how Liverpool want their next forward line to look. Do they replace Salah with a mirror image, or do they reshape the attack entirely, with different profiles and rotations across the front three?

Inside the club, those are the debates that will decide whether they are prepared to go to PSG’s asking price.

A squad at a crossroads

Strip away the names and numbers, and this is where Liverpool stand: a title-winning club, significant money already spent, and yet a squad that still feels in need of reshaping.

The arrival of Victor Munoz is a start, not an endpoint. The Salah situation hangs over everything, with strong expectations of a move to either the Saudi Pro League or Major League Soccer. Replace that level of output badly, and the entire project wobbles.

Barcola offers one route. Diomande offered another. Rogers and others sit in the background as alternative plays.

What Liverpool decide now will define the next version of their attack. Do they push their chips in on a 23-year-old from Paris at a British-record fee, trusting the Champions League evidence and their own development track record? Or do they walk away from the numbers and reshape more cautiously?

For a club that has spent years making ruthless, data-backed calls in the market, this is no longer an academic exercise. It’s the next big decision in the post-Salah era – and the green light from Paris means they can’t pretend it isn’t there.