Liverpool have already avoided a contract standoff this summer that Paris Saint-Germain currently face with Bradley Barcola. At the start of July, both Barcola and Dominik Szoboszlai entered the final two years of their deals. Four weeks later, Szoboszlai signed a new five-year contract, while talks between Barcola’s representatives and PSG have reportedly broken down beyond repair.
Reds hope to capitalise on PSG impasse
Work continues behind the scenes on a potential deal for the France international, who tops Liverpool’s shortlist of wide forward targets. However, PSG are playing hardball over a player who has been key to their back-to-back Champions League-winning seasons, demanding in excess of £140m. After breaking the club’s transfer record last summer for Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, PSG’s demand would require another club-record fee.
The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) Football Observatory has told the ECHO that its statistical model estimates Barcola’s transfer value at just under £85m. While the research group acknowledges that inflation could push a “fair” price higher, it would not likely exceed that amount by much.
Contract and playing time factors
CIES notes the winger’s two-year contract and relatively young age—he is two years younger than Vinicius Junior, for example. However, it also considers that Barcola was not a guaranteed starter for PSG or France at this summer’s World Cup. He started half of France’s eight matches in the United States, playing the full 90 minutes only once, in the round-of-32 win over Sweden. For PSG, he started 35 of 56 matches across all competitions.
After starting PSG’s first dozen Champions League matches, Barcola only featured as a substitute from the quarter-finals onward—though he sprained his right ankle during the second leg of the round-of-16 tie against Chelsea, keeping him out for just under a month. He returned against Liverpool at Anfield in mid-April, assisting Ousmane Dembele’s second goal. A month and a half later, Luis Enrique only brought him on in the 83rd minute of the final against Arsenal. There are suggestions the coach could reduce his game time further if Barcola is deemed not fully committed.
Leverage and market context
With Liverpool set to miss out on Yan Diomande and desperate to replace Mohamed Salah, PSG have plenty of leverage in a seller’s market. Morgan Rogers has already moved to Chelsea, and Diomande is due to become a Real Madrid player soon. Bayer Leverkusen and Newcastle United have shown how it can be done: CIES valued Isak at £88m and Wirtz at £105m last summer, but Liverpool ended up agreeing deals worth around £240m for the pair. A similar scenario could play out this summer with the Champions League winners.
