Liverpool can forget Sarr and Minteh by signing a mini version of Barcola

Back then, Liverpool were considered the slickest operators in the transfer market. Every time FSG emerged from the shadows, they seemed to secure their top target for a fantastic fee and leave their rivals wondering quite how they did it with such striking consistency.

But those days are over, and Liverpool’s efforts this summer and last have been closer to a scattergun approach than the sniper’s mark that allowed Jurgen Klopp to build a dynasty and hold it over the course of a decade.

This has been a testing transfer window for the Reds. For a number of reasons. However, there may yet be light at the end of the tunnel, with Liverpool on the verge of signing Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain.

It’s been a protracted effort, but Liverpool have finally achieved a breakthrough, with the France international sure to prove an upgrade on Cody Gakpo.

How Bradley Barcola compares to Cody Gakpo

Gakpo sometimes receives more criticism than he deserves. The Dutch attacker scored to restore parity in the second-half as Liverpool laboured to a draw against Newcastle United last weekend, but that might have been his final addition to the showreel, with Tottenham Hotspur closing in and eager to sign him for £60m.

Like Gakpo, Barcola is a goalscoring winger. Since the beginning of the 2024/25 season, he has scored 34 goals for PSG, with Ousmane Dembele the only teammate who has surpassed that.

It’s impressive, to be sure, and his far more dynamic and unpredictable skillset should see him prove a significant upgrade on Gakpo, who might know how to score a goal, but has been too one-dimensional too often for Liverpool over the past year.

Even if Barcola arrives, Liverpool are still short – especially if Gakpo is sold to a Premier League rival. FSG simply have to sign another winger who can operate on the right side.

Efforts to sign Ibrahim Mbaye, Yankuba Minteh and Ismaila Sarr have all fallen flat, and time is running out. However, sporting director Richard Hughes still has a number of options to explore.

Liverpool line up late move for mini-Barcola

Liverpool continue to survey the market for fresh wide forwards, and it does seem to confirm that Gakpo’s days as a member of the Anfield persuasion are numbered.

In Barcola, they have landed quite the upgrade, but as Tottenham push to complete a deal for the Netherlands star, FSG may want to secure a replacement to ensure Liverpool are not short on options.

REUTERS/Sam Navarro

According to transfer reporter Ben Jacobs, speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Liverpool are exploring a last-minute move to sign Matias Fernandez-Pardo from Lille, with the Belgian winger valued at around £60m.

Newcastle United also have a vested interest in this one, but when as that ever stopped Liverpool? The Anfield side have been rebuffed in their efforts to sign Mbaye and Minteh and Sarr, so this could be the perfect fallback, landing a player who has already shown that they have the potential to thrive at the highest level.

The 21-year-old Fernandez-Pardo is unique in that he has a dynamic and versatile touch that allows him to play all around the frontline. Recognised as a winger, he has actually spent the most time during his short career as a centre-forward, where his clinical edge is promoted.

Also blessed with blistering pace, there is certainly something Barcola-esque about the Belgium international, who caught the eye in a bit-part role for his nation at the World Cup this summer, completing 100% of his dribbles and creating four chances across three substitute appearances.

In Ligue 1 last term, Fernandez-Pardo scored eight goals and provided five assists across 29 appearances. He only completed 1.2 dribbles per game, but that is by no means a suggestion that he is not an elite ball carrier. He is 6 feet 2, yet that does not deter from his swift, speedy running style.

Barcola is hardly diminutive himself. The 6 foot forward is rangy, but he uses that to his advantage, twirling past defenders like an acrobat and bringing an explosiveness and core strength that allows him to get into space and strike on goal.

Both are direct wingers with the potential to become elite goalscorers in the Premier League, and given that Fernandez-Pardo is comfortable on the right side, there’s no reason why he couldn’t follow PSG’s French sensation to Anfield.

If Liverpool are serious about pursuing a late-window move for Fernandez-Pardo now that a deal for Barcola has reached the closing stages, it would suggest that both Ngumoha and Munoz are going to be utilised as right-sided forwards repeatedly throughout the campaign.

The Belgian is also acquainted with the right side, of course, so perhaps Iraola is determined to take his fixation with multi-functional forwards to the next level at Anfield this season.