Why Liverpool want to go all out for £116m star

It is an open secret at this point that Liverpool are in the market to bring in at least one new winger to bolster Andoni Iraola‘s squad in the summer transfer window.

Mohamed Salah officially became a free agent at the start of this month after the club agreed to terminate his contract early to allow him to explore a new opportunity this summer.

The Egypt international, who helped his country to make the last 16 of the World Cup on Friday, left Anfield with 257 goals and 123 assists in 442 games in all competitions for the club.

Whilst Liverpool need to replace Salah, the Reds are also still looking for their replacement for Sadio Mane, who left the club to sign for Bayern Munich in 2022.

The Senegal international scored 120 goals and delivered 46 assists in 269 appearances for the Premier League giants in all competitions before his move to Germany.

Liverpool to go all out to sign Ligue 1 star

FSG need to find a consistent left-sided attacker who can offer the kind of threat that Mane was provided on that side, whilst they also need to sign an attacking force like Salah who can score and create goals in equal measure on a regular basis.

Now, with just under two months left of the window to go, the club are looking at a star who could be like a hybrid of Mane and Salah at Anfield.

According to Caught Offside, Liverpool are preparing to push for the signing of Paris Saint-German winger Bradley Barcola after his involvement in the World Cup with France.

Speaking to Caught Offside, a source said: “Liverpool plan to go all in for Barcola. There are other targets too, because it won’t be easy to convince PSG, but Barcola is the one they want. Their recruitment team have done their homework on him and this is likely to accelerate after the World Cup.

“Liverpool love Barcola and they’re ready to invest in a top winger. It’s true that PSG would rather keep him, though. I can’t say for sure right now if they’ll let him go for a price Liverpool or anyone else would find reasonable.”

It will not be an easy deal to do because Premier League champions Arsenal have also been linked previously, and he is said to have a transfer value of up to £116m.

How Bradley Barcola can be a Sadio Mane and Mo Salah hybrid for Liverpool

If Liverpool can reach an agreement with PSG to bring Barcola to Anfield before the end of the summer transfer window, the French star could be like a hybrid of Mane and Salah for Iraola.

Like Mane, the France international is a right-footed forward who typically plays on the left side of the attack, cutting in on his favoured foot from a wide position to provide a threat in the final third.

Unlike the Senegal international, though, the £116m-rated talent, who was described as “unpredictable” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, has the quality to provide creativity for his teammates on a regular basis from that role.

Barcola racked up 25 goals and 29 ‘big chances’ created in 48 games in Ligue 1 in the past two seasons, which shows that he has the quality to offer both goals and creativity in equal measure.

That was not the case for Mane during his time at Liverpool. He was a fantastic goalscorer, scoring at least 13 goals in all six of his campaigns with the club, but he never hit double figures for assists in a season with the Reds.

Salah, on the other hand, hit double figures for both goals and assists in eight of his nine seasons with the club, offering a threat as both a scorer and a creator of goals on a regular basis.

Barcola scored 34 goals and provided 26 assists in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 campaigns combined for PSG in all competitions, which suggests that he has the potential to offer Salah-esque levels of productivity in the final third at Anfield.

However, he would be doing so from Mane’s old position as a right-footed left winger, rather than as a like-for-like replacement for Salah on the right flank, which is why he could be a hybrid of both players.

The signing of Barcola would still leave the Reds in need of an addition on the right wing, due to Salah’s departure, but it would provide them with an exceptional and consistent attacker to bolster their squad for next season.