Liverpool Pursues Barcola Amid Midfield Concerns

Fabrizio Romano is refusing to budge. While reports suggest Liverpool have hit the brakes on a move for Bradley Barcola, the transfer specialist insists the chase is very much on – and that he is “absolutely all in” on the winger ending up at Anfield.

Liverpool have already moved aggressively this summer, bringing in Ronald Araujo, Jeremy Jacquet and Victor Munoz. The next phase is replacing Mohamed Salah’s goals and gravity out wide. Inside the club, Barcola has emerged as a headline target to do exactly that.

The PSG attacker, under contract until 2028, is said to be unwilling to extend his deal. That stance has opened the door. Liverpool have walked straight through it.

PSG, though, are not in the mood to give away a prized asset. Their asking price stands at a hefty £145m. Liverpool, unsurprisingly, are pushing for something lower and hoping to land in the middle. A report on Friday claimed those differences had led the Premier League side to “pause negotiations” for two key reasons.

Romano is not buying that version of events.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, he underlined that Liverpool remain locked in on Barcola and that the story is far from cooling.

“What does it (the Torres and Godts arrivals) mean? That there is an expectation there could be movements around the situation of Bradley Barcola,” he said, pointing to PSG’s own squad manoeuvres as a possible trigger for change.

From there, he doubled down.

“The situation of Barcola remains absolutely linked to Liverpool. I never stopped telling you and I remain absolutely all in on this story, because Liverpool want Barcola.

“Liverpool are negotiating for Barcola, and because I was believing in this news already in April, May, when the story and the narrative around was that Barcola was untouchable. But I remain on this story again today.

“Liverpool are still trying for Barcola. There’s still a gap in financial valuation between what PSG want and what Liverpool offer, but they’re still working for Barcola.

“The financial agreement with the player is okay, and now Liverpool and PSG keep talking, exchanging messages and discussing for Barcola.

“The deal is alive.”

The message is clear: from Romano’s perspective, this is not a dead end, it is a live negotiation with a price gap to close.

Carragher sounds alarm over Liverpool midfield

While the transfer spotlight burns on Barcola and the search for a new winger, Jamie Carragher is looking somewhere else entirely. For the former Liverpool defender, the real storm is brewing in the middle of the pitch.

“The midfield for me is still a huge problem for Liverpool,” he said on The Overlap Fan Debate.

He has been watching closely. Not every pre-season game, but enough to worry him.

“I haven’t watched all the pre-season games, but I watched the last two against decent opposition – it was Leeds and then Monaco.

“And the problem Liverpool had last season was there was space everywhere in midfield. That has not gone away at all.”

That is a damning verdict. The structural issue that haunted them last season, in Carragher’s eyes, remains unsolved.

He then turned to how Dominik Szoboszlai is being used and why that might stretch the team even more.

“That’s only going to get bigger with the deployment of [Dominik] Szoboszlai in midfield.

“It looks like they’re going to play him, rather than as a number 10, almost as a central midfield player alongside [Ryan] Gravenberch and that is just pure box-to-box.”

Two box-to-box players, big spaces, and a system still searching for balance. Liverpool are chasing an elite winger and haggling with PSG over millions, but Carragher’s warning cuts through the noise: unless the midfield is fixed, will any marquee signing be enough to carry them through the season?