Iraola has already found his next Kroupi at Liverpool

Liverpool are struggling to close a deal to sign Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain, with club-to-club talks ongoing, but no breakthrough in regard to a transfer fee.

Barcola, 23, is eager to complete a move to Merseyside, but Liverpool will not secure his services until finding some commonality with the back-to-back Champions League winners. Moreover, Arsenal are lurking in the background, all the more reason to get this one over the line sharpish.

Easier said than done when PSG are chasing a British-record transfer fee, of course, but Andoni Iraola does need a marquee attacking signing at the start of a new era, with Mohamed Salah having now signed for Trabzonspor in Turkey besides.

Liverpool are incomplete, but the new boss has learned something from a youthful group over the past few weeks.

What we’ve learned from Liverpool’s pre-season

Liverpool have returned to Merseyside following their pre-season tour in the United States, and though a number of Iraola’s most important players were absent, he will indeed have learned a lot.

Defensive issues remain for a Reds backline shorn of depth, but fans will be pleased to have seen a more front-footed and “vertical” playing style after the laboured approach from Arne Slot’s men last term.

Iraola has learned that FSG have managed to tie Dominik Szoboszlai down to a new long-term contract at Anfield, a significant boost indeed.

With Virgil van Dijk absent, Szoboszlai has been Liverpool’s leader over the past several weeks, and murmurs are intensifying pertaining to the Hungarian’s chances of taking the vacant vice-captaincy.

Talks are also ongoing for 18-year-old PSG winger Ibrahim Mbaye, and Iraola’s experience in bringing young players such as Junior Kroupi to the fore at Bournemouth could see him turn that one into a superstar.

However, the Spanish coach may have already discovered his next Kroupi since arriving at Liverpool, and he’s not even a forward.

Iraola has already found his next Kroupi at Liverpool

Kroupi is a superstar, only 20 years old but coming off the back of a first-class breakout campaign in the Premier League with Bournemouth. Liverpool have been among the interested parties in the prolific Frenchman, who has picked up an injury and thus will probably stay put this summer.

The point is that Iraola knows how to develop a first-class prospect, and he’s already proving it to be a trend through Trey Nyoni, the 19-year-old midfielder arguably the biggest winner of Liverpool’s pre-season tour, excelling as a metronomic maestro in the middle of the park.

There has been so much uncertainty around Liverpool’s midfield, lacking depth and the crux of so many problems last season. Curtis Jones appears set for a move to Inter Milan, but Iraola could have a ready-made replacement right here.

Nyoni has only made a handful of senior appearances for Liverpool. Last year, Slot gave him six outings in the Premier League, though none of them came from the starting whistle.

He is a long and limber midfielder, deceptively physical and effortlessly gifted when on the ball. Journalist Bence Bocsak has remarked that he is “pretty much a tailor-made midfielder for Andoni Iraola.”

When Kroupi arrived in the Premier League one year ago, he joined from a Lorient side who had just completed a campaign in France’s second tier. When you’re ready, you’re ready, and Iraola has shown over the past three years on the south coast that he is a coach who understands this.

Nyoni is still so young, but he has been around for a while now. He was part of Jurgen Klopp’s youthful squad who beat Chelsea to lift the Carabao Cup in 2024, and though he remains a teenager, is now showing the kind of maturity that could establish him as a superstar

Nyoni is young, but he has arguably been the biggest winner of Liverpool’s pre-season tour. He might not develop into a free-scoring forward over the next few years, but he could emerge as Iraola’s next teenage talent who belies his age to play a core part in a successful project.

There’s still a lot to sort out, but there’s no denying this is an exciting time for the Anfield persuasion.