Liverpool's Winger Search: Barcola or Savinho?

Liverpool’s search for a new winger is starting to feel like a test of nerve as much as a recruitment exercise.

Mohamed Salah is gone. The 34-year-old walked away from Anfield at the end of June, agreeing to terminate his £400,000-per-week deal a year early. With him went not just goals and assists, but a very specific profile: a left-footed right-winger who bent entire defensive structures out of shape.

Right now, Liverpool don’t have that profile in the squad. And that’s where the market gets complicated.

Barcola’s price, Barcola’s profile

Bradley Barcola has been heavily floated as a solution. The Paris Saint-Germain forward is admired, versatile, and highly rated. He’s also valued at around £145 million.

That fee hangs over the discussion like a storm cloud. If new sporting director Richard Hughes decides that figure is simply too high for a player pushing to leave PSG, Liverpool will have to pivot. Fast.

There’s another problem. Barcola is right-footed and, by most accounts, more effective from the left than the right. Yes, he can operate on either flank, and yes, the France international would strengthen any attack. But he doesn’t mirror Salah’s angles, his movements, or his threat coming inside on that left foot.

Andoni Iraola, tasked with reshaping Liverpool’s next attacking era, still lacks that one key piece: a left-footed right-winger in Salah’s mould.

Savinho enters the frame

That’s where Savinho comes into the conversation.

The 22-year-old Brazilian, on the books at Manchester City, has made his stance clear. He wants out this summer in search of more regular first-team football. His message has been relayed publicly by Fabrizio Romano, who reported that Savinho has informed City of his desire to leave.

“Savinho informs Manchester City about his desire to leave this summer,” Romano wrote on X, adding that the winger wants to play more and develop his career, with the decision now in City’s hands.

Previously of Girona, Savinho has already been linked with Liverpool, and stylistically he ticks more of the Salah boxes than Barcola does. A wide forward who can attack from the right and threaten goal, he offers that familiar, direct menace that Anfield has grown used to over the past decade.

He’s also not short of admirers elsewhere.

Spurs push, Liverpool wait

Tottenham, Romano claims, have Savinho “on top of their list”, a stance first reported in May. TEAMtalk go further, reporting that Roberto De Zerbi’s side have given Manchester City a deadline: conclude talks by the weekend or they will move on to other targets.

One of those alternative options, intriguingly, is said to be Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo.

That puts a clock on this saga. If Spurs walk away, the dynamic shifts. If they don’t, Savinho could be off the table before Liverpool decide how hard to push.

TEAMtalk value Savinho at around £60 million, with the Brazilian tied to Enzo Maresca’s side until 2031. It’s a long contract and a significant fee, but far more palatable than the £145 million figure associated with Barcola.

For some Liverpool supporters, the idea of signing a player neglected by Pep Guardiola may raise eyebrows. Look a little closer, though, and there’s clearly a player there – raw, talented, and waiting for a manager prepared to build trust and minutes rather than stockpile options.

Hughes’ moment of decision

This is where Hughes earns his reputation.

Barcola at a huge fee and a different profile? Savinho at a lower price but with competition from Spurs and a career that needs careful handling? Or a third name, still under wraps, who better fits Iraola’s tactical blueprint?

For now, Liverpool watch as Tottenham push City for an answer. If those talks stall or collapse, the door swings open.

Then it’s on Hughes to decide whether Savinho is the winger who ushers in Liverpool’s post-Salah era – or just another name that got away.