LONDON: Liverpool are closing in on a big summer signing after reaching a deal worth 120 million pounds to sign Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) winger Bradley Barcola.
The Reds have made positive progress in talks with the European champions after weeks of trying to lower PSG’s valuation, which was initially set at 145 million pounds.
Liverpool are now understood to be paying a basic fee of 100 million pounds, with another 20 million pounds in additional payments, the same structure as Florian Wirtz’s move to England last year.
Barcola, 23, has been a top target for Liverpool in recent months as the club look to replace Mohamed Salah after the Egyptian star moved to Trabzonspor.
Liverpool had previously also targeted Yan Diomande and had made an offer for the player, but it was rejected before he eventually joined Real Madrid.
Negotiations to acquire Barcola were led by sporting director Richard Hughes along with Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon.
This week, Liverpool also received information regarding Crystal Palace striker Ismaila Sarr, as well as holding talks with Brighton regarding Yankuba Minteh.
Liverpool are keen to bring in two strikers if conditions allow, so Barcola’s arrival does not necessarily mean they are done with Sarr or Minteh. They also made enquiries about PSG striker Ibrahim Mbaye earlier this month.
If completed, the move would be the most expensive signing of this summer’s transfer window, surpassing the record 117 million pounds Chelsea paid to sign Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa.
Barcola was a product of Lyon’s academy before spending the last three seasons with PSG, helping the club win two Champions League titles and three Ligue 1 titles.
The winger played for France at this summer’s World Cup and scored against England in the third-place play-off. He has scored 39 goals in 152 appearances for PSG.
Liverpool will hope that their big spending this summer will yield better results than last season.
After spending more than 450 million pounds on new players including Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike last summer, the 2024-25 English Premier League champions failed to repeat their excellent performance under Arne Slot.
The Reds only qualified for the Champions League after finishing fifth last season, but a ticket to Europe’s elite competition has helped them remain in the race for high-profile players.
Liverpool, who let Salah, Andrew Robertson and Ibrahima Konate leave earlier this summer, have so far signed central defenders Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo and winger Victor Munoz.
Curtis Jones also left Anfield after joining Inter Milan for a fee of 30 million pounds, thus leaving Liverpool no longer with a home-born player in the first team.
Jayden Danns could potentially take on that role in the future.
The six-capped England player joined Liverpool’s academy at the age of nine and has long dreamed of a move to Serie A after failing to consistently find a place in the starting line-up at Anfield.
Liverpool opened the season with a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United on Sunday, but escaped defeat through a late Dominik Szoboszlai penalty.
The Reds fell behind after just five minutes when Anthony Elanga finished off a quick Newcastle counterattack, but equalised early in the second half through a stunning goal from Cody Gakpo.
Joe Willock put Newcastle back in front two minutes later, but Szoboszlai saved Liverpool when he converted a penalty late in the game after Lewis Hall brought down Munoz in the box.
Iraola said: “It’s a strange feeling. It wasn’t the result we wanted but the way we scored at the end of the game made it feel better. However, we definitely wanted the win more.
“We started in the worst way we could have imagined. Away to Newcastle, the first game of the season, the atmosphere in the stadium, they had very fast players and we conceded a goal.
“They punished us and we had to chase the results. But we never gave up.”