On August 27, local time, 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 operate on the left wing, possessing pace, goal threat, and excellent off-the-ball ability, though his finishing remains questionable.

Here's The Times Analysis

Barcola was unmarked at the far post. He raised his arms, eagerly signalling his teammates for a pass. After receiving the ball, he struck it powerfully with his right foot, sending it into the top corner of the net.

Now Liverpool certainly hopes such moments will continue to repeat themselves, as they are about to bring Barcola to Anfield, making him the third signing to exceed £100 million in the last 15 months. Nearly four years ago, they witnessed a similar scene firsthand.

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

At that time, Klopp's Liverpool lost 1-3. Barcola, just 20 years old then, received a pass from 19-year-old Cherki after a series of dribbles and eventually scored.

Given their development trajectory, both had already caught the attention of European giants: they had both impressed in various French youth international squads, and Olympique Lyonnais has long been regarded as a renowned "talent factory" in European football. Nevertheless, their performance in that match left an impression on Liverpool.

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

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

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

Then, last summer, Barcola began showing signs of dissatisfaction with his status in PSG's squad. He had to sit behind Doué and Kvaratskhelia, which seemed to gradually test his patience.

At that time, Liverpool was linked with the French winger, but due to the club having already spent a substantial £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 team. And when the real transfer battle began, this continued relationship gave Liverpool an advantage.

In this transfer window, Liverpool had to exercise patience once more.

PSG's initial valuation for Barcola was €170 million, or £145 million. For any manager, naturally they want new signings to arrive as soon as possible, but such a price was clearly prohibitive.

Barcola refused to renew his contract with PSG, and he still has two years remaining on his current deal. This gave Liverpool greater confidence to remain patient, hoping that as time passed, the Champions League holders would lower their asking price.

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

This is a considerable saving, and that money could perhaps be invested in another player. However, if Liverpool truly wants to extract real value from this deal, then Barcola must prove his worth on the pitch.

As with the cases of Isak and Wirtz, completing the transfer is only the beginning; the truly difficult part is that the player must live up to his price tag on the field.

At PSG, people even joked and proudly called this summer "the greatest 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 also set to join Liverpool for approximately €140 million.

That is, PSG will receive total transfer revenue of €255 million from players who were not always Enrique's first-choice starters.

However, Liverpool remains willing to bet again that Barcola can develop into a star winger. And following the frequent high-value transfers between Premier League clubs this summer, the 23-year-old French winger will also bring fresh impetus to the Premier League.

From past performances, Barcola – who was nicknamed "Grasshopper" in his youth due to his exceptional pace – can bring goal threat, explosive speed, and exceptional vitality and impact to Liverpool, both with and without the ball.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has made clear that he wants his wingers to be capable of alternating between the left and right flanks. However, Barcola himself prefers to play on the left, so positionally, he is more of a successor to Luis Díaz than to Salah.

Therefore, Gakpo's future will attract more attention. Currently, Tottenham Hotspur wants to sign the Dutch forward, and Manchester City has also enquired about his situation.

In the 2023-24 season, Barcola contributed 42 goals in 64 games, including 21 goals and 21 assists. However, that number dropped to 20 last season.

Barcola is sometimes criticized for lacking a killer instinct in front of goal. However, Opta Analyst points out that over the past two seasons, Barcola's conversion rate from big chances has reached 28.7%, scoring 25 goals from 87 big chances.

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

However, considering 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 attacking third will also be highly valued by Liverpool.

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

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

From outside voices, the team still needs to strengthen in several positions, and fans and commentators have emphasized the gaps in the squad.

However, since former sporting director and later chief football operations officer of Fenway Sports Group Michael Edwards took charge of football matters at Anfield roughly 10 years ago, Liverpool has gradually formed a "quality over quantity" team-building model.

This is not to say that the club's management does not see the problems in the squad, nor that they do not understand the benefits of expanding squad depth.

On the contrary, their choice is to prioritize investing resources in top talents as soon as they become available on the market, given limited available resources.

For Liverpool, their logic is clear: it is becoming increasingly difficult for the Premier League to attract and retain truly elite players, and in such circumstances, if the club adopted 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 yet to bear fruit.

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

Traduzido por IA.

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