Liverpool may have just been handed a massive boost in their pursuit of Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola. He continues to be linked with a potential move to Anfield to replace Mohamed Salah, who left the Reds at the end of last season. Barcola, widely considered as one of the world’s best forwards, is said to feature prominently on Liverpool’s shortlist.
He remains tied down to PSG until the summer of 2028 but is said to be stalling over a new contract. It’s been reported that he doesn’t want to agree fresh terms, meaning he could be allowed to leave the French capital ahead of next season. Now, it has emerged that PSG are close to signing a player who could emerge as Barcola’s long-term replacement.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the two-time European champions have reached a breakthrough in talks over a move for Monaco attacker Maghnes Akliouche.
Negotiations are said to be moving swiftly with an agreement at the “final stages”, which suggests a deal could be struck in the not-too-distant future.
This could open the door for Barcola to leave the Parc des Princes and complete a sensational switch to Liverpool.
A move certainly wouldn’t come cheap, though. It’s been reported that the Reds would need to pay around £145million to sign the 23-year-old this summer.
This would mark a new British record, surpassing the £125m paid by Liverpool to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle a year ago.
It comes after new Reds manager Andoni Iraola highlighted the need to sign a new winger, with Salah no longer on the books.
Quizzed on his transfer plans earlier this month, Iraola said: “I think it’s difficult to say a number when the market is open, and you have to be always open to new options to improve the squad.
“There are obvious situations that we know where we need to sign players. A winger, for example. We definitely need to sign a winger.
“But there are other situations that we will have to analyse what the market gives you, what’s the cost, how we also see the players we have.
“We have some tricky positions where we have injured players that we trust but it is still not the ideal situation. So, it will depend on a lot of things.”