6 days ago
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If Liverpool is unable to sign Newcastle forward Alexander Isak — though all signs point to the Swedish international ending up at Anfield — the club may pivot to PSG winger Bradley Barcola.
The shifty 22-year-old French winger from PSG produced his most productive season in club football a season ago and helped the Parisian capture a European treble.
Barcola, weighed alongside Real Madrid forward Rodrygo as a potential attacking option should the Isak move fall through, would not be cheap. PSG paid Olympique Lyon €45 million ($52.4M) for the winger in 2023 and would likely seek a fee in the vicinity of €100 ($116.4M) million to sell him this summer.
Barcola's arrival makes a little more intuitive sense for Liverpool coach Arne Slot's current squad construction than Isak's. He's a right-footer who primarily lines up on the left but has experience playing on both flanks.
Let's explore some potential XI. Playing Barcola would not impact the back five, slated to be Alisson in goal behind a back four of Jeremie Frimpong (or Conor Bradley), Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, and Milos Kerkez.
Assuming Slot plays a combination of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, and Dominik Szoboszlai (as he's lined up in preseason) deep, we're left with four slots.
How does Barcola profile? He produced a massive 0.97 expected non-penalty goals+assists per 90 minutes in the league last year, one of the best marks in Europe.
He's a strong ball carrier (5.45 per 90, 91st percentile in Europe's top five leagues) but a poor progressive passer (3.33, 40th). He's better as the recipient of someone else's run (think Florian Writz): his 15.17 progressive passes received rank in the 99th percentile (per Fbref).
It makes sense to play Barcola on the left while Wirtz plays the No. 10 role. New signings Hugo Ekitike and Mohamed Salah complete the forward line. The latter two are elite in transition.
Barcola's arrival would complicate a path to the first team for 2025 preseason standout Rio Ngumoha, who is much more of a pure ball-progressor. He is much more of a direct mirror to Cody Gakpo than a replacement for the outgoing Luis Diaz.
This makes Barcola a better understudy for Salah on the right when the 33-year-old inevitably rests throughout the season to preserve his body (and while he's gone during AFCON).
LIVERPOOL.COM SAYS: It speaks volumes that Slot was willing to jettison Diaz once the signing of Wirtz (a similar profile) was secured. Liverpool is looking for a final-third receiver, not an initiator. Barcola is a good fit, a good age, and makes more sense than Isak (who would leave Ekitike in a foreign position at left wing on occasion). He's a good fit, but both Gakpo and Ngumoha would rightfully be upset.
His near-overlapping profile with Gakpo should lead Liverpool to pass in favor of a pure goal-poacher like Isak. However, it's smart Slot is thinking about versatile players (Gakpo only lines up on the left at this point).
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