On August 27, The Times revealed that Liverpool's interest in Barcola began in 2022 and they continued to monitor him after PSG signed him. Barcola will primarily play as a left winger, possessing pace, goal threat, and excellent off-ball movement, though his finishing ability remains inconsistent.

Here is The Times' analysis.

Barcola was unmarked at the far post. He spread his arms, eagerly signaling for the ball. When it arrived, he struck a powerful right-footed shot, sending the ball into the top corner.

Liverpool certainly hopes such scenes will repeat themselves, as they are about to bring Barcola to Anfield as their third signing exceeding £100 million in the past 15 months. Nearly four years earlier, they had actually witnessed similar moments firsthand.

In December 2022, while the World Cup was taking place in Qatar, Liverpool played a friendly match against Olympique Lyonnais in Dubai.

At that time, Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool eventually lost 3-1. Barcola, then only 20 years old, received a pass from a 19-year-old teammate—Cherki—following a series of dribbles and ultimately scored.

Given their growth trajectories, they had already entered the radar of Europe's top clubs: both had shown talent in various French youth teams, and Olympique Lyonnais has always been regarded as a reputed "talent factory" in European football. Nevertheless, their performance in that match still made an impression on Liverpool.

Barcola is currently 23 years old and scored 3 goals for France at this summer's World Cup.

In a sense, Barcola's imminent arrival at Anfield can also be seen as a reward for Liverpool's patient wait.

Initially, Liverpool identified Barcola as a player worthy of continued attention, and even after PSG signed him for approximately €45 million in August 2023, they did not stop monitoring him.

Then last summer, Barcola began showing signs of dissatisfaction with his position at PSG. Being behind Doudou and Kvaratskhelia seemed to gradually erode his patience.

At that time, Liverpool was linked with the French winger, but as the club had already spent £450 million, including potential deals for Wirtz and Isak that could reach £241 million, they could not invest further at that moment.

However, it is almost certain that Liverpool maintained contact with Barcola's representatives. And when the real transfer battle began, this sustained relationship gave Liverpool an early advantage.

During this transfer window, Liverpool had to engage in another form of waiting.

PSG's initial valuation for Barcola was apparently €170 million, or £145 million. While any manager naturally wants new recruits to arrive as soon as possible, such an asking price was clearly prohibitive.

Barcola refused to renew his PSG contract, with two years remaining on his current deal. This gave Liverpool greater confidence to remain patient, hoping that over time, the Champions League winners would lower their asking price.

Now, a deal in principle has been reached between the two parties, with a transfer fee slightly above £100 million, and with add-ons, the total deal should reach approximately £120 million. This means Liverpool ultimately saved around £20-25 million.

This is considerable savings, and that money could potentially be invested in another player. However, if Liverpool truly wants to extract real value from this deal, then Barcola must prove himself with his performances.

As with Isak and Wirtz, completing the transfer is only the beginning; the truly difficult part is the player performing on the pitch.

Within PSG, this summer has even been jokingly and proudly called the "biggest backup player transfer window in history".

Gonçalo Ramos joined AC Milan for €75 million, or £64 million, Lee Kang-in moved to Atlético Madrid for €40 million, and Barcola is now set to join Liverpool for approximately €140 million.

In other words, PSG will generate a total of €255 million in transfer revenue from players who were not always starters for Luis Enrique.

Nevertheless, Liverpool remains willing to bet again that Barcola can become a star. And following the frequent big-money transfers between Premier League clubs this summer, the 23-year-old French winger will also bring fresh impetus to the Premier League.

Based on his past performances, Barcola—nicknamed "the Grasshopper" in his youth due to his extreme pace—can bring goal threat, explosive speed, and exceptional dynamism and impact to Liverpool, both with and without the ball.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has made clear that he wants his wingers to be able to operate on both flanks. However, Barcola himself prefers to play on the left, so positionally, he is more of a backup for Luis Díaz than for Salah.

Therefore, Gakpo's future will also receive more attention. Currently, Tottenham Hotspur wants to recruit the Dutch forward, and Manchester City has also inquired about his availability.

In the 2024-25 season, Barcola contributed 42 goals in 64 appearances, with 21 goals and 21 assists. However, this figure dropped to 20 last season.

Barcola is sometimes criticized for his lack of composure in front of goal. However, Opta Analyst highlights that over the past two seasons, Barcola's conversion rate for big chances is 28.7%, scoring 25 goals from 87 big chances.

For comparison, Bayern Munich's Michael Olise, regarded as one of the world's best wingers, scored 16 goals from 58 big chances, with a conversion rate of 27.6%.

However, given the style of play Slot wants the team to adopt, Barcola's movement off the ball and his willingness to actively contest possession in the final third will also be highly valued by Liverpool.

Since last summer, Liverpool's total spending is set to reach approximately £670 million, and before the transfer window closes on September 1, the team still needs to recruit a right winger.

Previously, Liverpool had shown varying degrees of interest in Minteh, Ismaïla Sarr, and Endrick.

From outside voices, the team still needs to strengthen at multiple positions, and supporters and commentators have consistently highlighted gaps in the squad.

However, since Michael Edwards, former sporting director and then CEO of football operations at Fenway Sports Group, began overseeing football matters at Anfield approximately 10 years ago, Liverpool has gradually adopted a "quality over quantity" team-building model.

This does not mean club leadership does not see problems in the squad or does not understand the benefits of expanding squad depth.

On the contrary, their choice is that with limited resources, once top-tier talent appears on the market, they prioritize investing resources in those players.

For Liverpool, their logic is clear: it is becoming increasingly difficult for the Premier League to attract and retain truly elite players. In such circumstances, if the club adopts the opposite strategy, it could be a mistake.

At the same time, the club is also aware that the squad transformation that occurred over the past 12 months has not yet truly borne fruit.

And for Barcola, it is now time for all the previous patient waiting to pay off.

Traduit par IA.

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