Liverpool ‘will sign’ Barcola as they confirm third summer transfer with FSG to ‘spend big
Liverpool are being tipped to press ahead with a move for Bradley Barcola this summer, with reports suggesting the Merseyside club will sign the PSG winger “as a minimum” as part of what’s being described as a summer of significant spending under FSG’s ownership. It’s a claim that will excite a Liverpool fanbase already encouraged by the club’s early business, and it comes at a moment when the search for Mohamed Salah’s long-term successor has become one of the defining storylines of Liverpool’s transfer window. The framing here matters. This isn’t being presented as one option among several that Liverpool might explore for a new winger — it’s being described as the baseline expectation, the deal that gets done regardless of whatever else follows. That’s a notable statement of intent for a club that has, in fairness, already shown plenty of ambition in the market this summer.
Liverpool’s summer activity so far tells its own story of a club moving with purpose. Victor Munoz has arrived from Osasuna in a deal reported to be worth in the region of €40 million, giving Arne Slot fresh options to work with as he continues to reshape the squad in his own image. Jeremy Jacquet, meanwhile, made the move from Rennes in a transfer that had actually been lined up back in the winter window, only completing once the summer market opened. Those two deals alone would represent a solid summer’s work for plenty of Premier League clubs, but for Liverpool they appear to be just the opening act. The real headline-grabbing business, if reports are accurate, is still to come — and it centres on finding a genuine like-for-like replacement for Salah’s creativity and end product out wide. That need has been building since March, when the Egyptian international was given permission by the club to explore a new challenge elsewhere ahead of this summer. Replacing a player of Salah’s stature — someone who has been the single most important attacking outlet at Anfield for the best part of a decade — was always going to require a significant statement signing, and Barcola’s name has been the one most consistently linked with that role.
According to journalist David Ornstein of The Athletic, Liverpool have already gone as far as formally submitting a bid for the France international, though PSG’s position remains that they have no intention of selling him this summer. Ornstein, discussing the situation when asked specifically about reported interest from Arsenal, made clear that there had been no active movement from the north London club at this stage, while also laying out PSG’s broader stance on Barcola’s future. Ornstein explained that PSG’s standpoint is that they don’t want to sell the winger at all, with the French champions instead hopeful of tying him down to a new contract. He went further, suggesting that even if PSG were to be talked into a sale, the valuation they’d have in mind would sit considerably higher than the fee Manchester City paid to prise Elliot Anderson away in one of this summer’s other headline deals — pointing out that Barcola is a Champions League winner, and that any suitor would have to pay market rate for a player with that pedigree.
Crucially, though, Ornstein didn’t rule out a departure altogether. He noted that Barcola has two years remaining on his current PSG contract, that there’s no indication he’s on the verge of extending those terms, and that he does appear open to the idea of a move away from the Parc des Princes. Ornstein’s overall assessment was that the situation is one that could take time to play out, with either outcome — a stay or a departure — still very much possible. That nuance is significant for Liverpool. A player with two years left on his deal, who isn’t signing a new one and appears receptive to a fresh challenge, is a very different proposition to a winger who’s dug in and desperate to stay. It suggests this saga is one where patience and persistence from Liverpool could eventually be rewarded, even if PSG’s public stance right now is one of resistance.
The suggestion that Liverpool will get a Barcola deal done regardless has come from Football Insider, with former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson offering his own take on how Liverpool’s summer is likely to unfold. Borson suggested that while Liverpool haven’t done a great deal of business publicly yet beyond the confirmed arrivals, that’s set to change, predicting they’ll sign Barcola at the very least and that the club are gearing up for a summer of considerable spending. Borson was careful to note that outside of the winger position, there hasn’t been a huge amount of movement from Liverpool so far. He also raised an interesting secondary question about the wider market — wondering aloud whether clubs further down the Premier League pecking order might look to capitalise on squad depth at the division’s biggest clubs, picking up fringe players that Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal would be open to moving on as they streamline their own squads this summer.
Alongside the headline-grabbing pursuit of Barcola, Liverpool have also confirmed a third piece of transfer business this summer, announcing the signing of 17-year-old Colombian attacking midfielder Samuel Martinez from Atletico Nacional. It’s a deal that speaks to a different, longer-term strand of Liverpool’s recruitment strategy — one focused on academy talent rather than first-team reinforcements. In an official statement, Liverpool confirmed that Martinez would join the club’s academy setup ahead of the 2027-28 season, with the move having now been fully completed. The club highlighted his performances for Colombia at the U17 South American Championship in April, where his side were crowned winners of the tournament. Martinez featured in all six of Colombia’s matches at that competition, registering three assists across the tournament — including a standout contribution in a 3-0 semi-final win over Brazil, before adding another assist in a 4-0 final victory over Argentina. Signings like Martinez rarely make the same headlines as a marquee winger arrival, but they form an important part of Liverpool’s overall recruitment picture. Identifying and securing talented teenagers from South America’s most productive footballing nations before they attract wider European interest has become an increasingly competitive business, and getting a deal for a player of Martinez’s pedigree over the line — fresh off winning a continental title with his country — represents smart, forward-thinking business from Liverpool’s recruitment department.
Taken together, the picture emerging is of a Liverpool side conducting business on multiple fronts simultaneously. There’s the here-and-now first-team strengthening represented by Munoz and Jacquet’s arrivals. There’s the long-term investment in academy talent through the Martinez deal. And then there’s the marquee, headline-defining pursuit of a Salah successor, with Barcola currently occupying pole position in that race — even if PSG’s resistance means there’s still plenty of work to do before any deal could be finalised. The involvement of Arsenal in this story, even in the limited context of Ornstein clarifying there’s been no active move from them, is a reminder that Liverpool won’t necessarily have a clear run at Barcola even if PSG’s stance eventually softens. Arsenal have been credited with interest in the France international at various points this summer, and with Liverpool having already gone as far as tabling a formal bid, this looks set to be a saga that runs for some time — with more than one Premier League heavyweight potentially willing to meet PSG’s valuation once it becomes clear a deal is possible.
For now, though, the momentum in the reporting sits firmly with Liverpool. Whether it’s Borson’s prediction that they’ll “spend quite big” this summer, or Ornstein’s more measured but still encouraging assessment of Barcola’s contract situation and openness to a move, the direction of travel suggests Liverpool’s interest in the winger is serious, sustained, and unlikely to go away regardless of PSG’s public reluctance to sell. Replacing Salah was always going to be one of the defining challenges of Liverpool’s summer, regardless of who eventually walks through the door at the club’s training ground. Few players in Premier League history have combined goals, assists and consistency quite like the Egyptian has done across his time at Anfield, and no single new arrival was ever likely to replicate that output in isolation.
What Liverpool appear to be doing instead is spreading the responsibility for life after Salah across multiple additions and a broader shift in approach. Munoz and Jacquet add fresh legs and quality to Slot’s group. Martinez represents an investment in the club’s longer-term academy pipeline. And Barcola, if a deal can eventually be struck with PSG, would give Liverpool a proven, Champions League-winning talent capable of stepping into a genuine creative and goal-scoring role out wide. There’s an argument that this diversified approach — rather than searching for one single, direct like-for-like replacement — is actually the smarter way to handle the departure of a generational talent like Salah. Spreading the creative burden across the front line, rather than piling all the expectation onto one new arrival, could well prove to be a shrewder long-term strategy, even if supporters understandably remain fixated on the marquee winger addition as the headline story of the summer.
What happens next largely depends on PSG. Their stance for now is clear: they don’t want to sell Barcola, and their preference is to extend his contract rather than negotiate an exit. But with two years left on his deal, no signs of an imminent renewal, and a player who — by Ornstein’s account — appears open to a fresh challenge, this has the hallmarks of a saga that could still swing in Liverpool’s favour before the window closes, even if it takes time to get there. For Liverpool fans, the message from those close to the situation is consistent: patience may be required, but the direction of travel points towards a marquee winger arriving at Anfield this summer — and Barcola remains the name most likely to fill that role, whatever PSG’s public position suggests for now.
