Liverpool Intensifies Pursuit of Barcola as Winger Search Heats Up

Liverpool’s search for wide reinforcements is heading into the final stretch of the window, and the picture is getting clearer by the day.

Mohamed Salah’s departure to Trabzonspor on a free has left a gaping hole on the right, and the club have been light in wide areas ever since. With the window closing on September 1, sporting director Richard Hughes and head coach Andoni Iraola are now deep into the decisive phase of their winger rebuild.

Barcola the priority

At the top of Liverpool’s list sits Bradley Barcola. The 23-year-old Paris Saint-Germain attacker has been the club’s No. 1 target ever since it became obvious that a move for Yan Diomande was off the table.

PSG were initially believed to be holding out for a huge fee of around £145m for Barcola. That stance has eased. The French champions are now understood to be open to a deal just north of £100m, a figure far more in Liverpool’s range for a player of his age and profile.

Crucially, Barcola’s preference is clear: he wants Anfield. Arsenal retain an interest and would happily bring the former Lyon academy product to north London, but the French international is focused on Liverpool. Right now, for him, there is only one destination that really matters.

PSG’s recent squad decisions underline that.

Barcola has again been left out of the Parisian group for this weekend’s Ligue 1 opener against Rennes, as reported by RMC Sport. The same applies to Ibrahim Mbaye, with both players training on Saturday morning but omitted from the matchday squad.

The logic from PSG is simple: protect the assets. With both players expected to leave, the club do not want to risk injuries that could derail significant sales in the current window.

For Barcola, it feels like a one-way street. Frozen out once more, there is no indication that PSG intend to reintegrate him into Luis Enrique’s plans. The message from Paris is that they are ready to cash in. The message from the player is that he wants Liverpool. The rest now sits with Hughes and Liverpool’s hierarchy.

Mbaye on the back burner as Minteh emerges

Liverpool’s winger search is not limited to Barcola, but the hierarchy are being selective with their bets.

The club have been tracking Yankuba Minteh as an alternative option on the flank, with the Gambian viewed as a different type of project signing compared to the more established PSG names.

Mbaye, another PSG winger, is available and firmly on Liverpool’s radar. He has admirers inside Anfield and would fill an obvious need, but the numbers do not work. With a price tag of around £60m on the Senegal international, there is currently little to no appetite from Hughes to green-light a deal at that level.

Mbaye is not short of interest elsewhere. Bayer Leverkusen are among the clubs monitoring his situation, and PSG are ready to move him on. Yet when it comes to Liverpool’s plans, he is no longer front and centre.

Barcola is.

With PSG again leaving both Barcola and Mbaye out of the squad for the Rennes opener, the situation has hardened. These are players on the market, not on the team sheet. PSG are pushing ahead with their sale strategy, and in Barcola’s case, that strategy is increasingly aligned with Liverpool’s needs.

Liverpool have identified their man. PSG are ready to sell. The player wants the move.

Now it comes down to whether Hughes can finish the job before the window slams shut.