Liverpool have confirmed the signing of Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth up to £123m. The France international has signed a five-year deal with the Reds and becomes the second most expensive signing of all time at Anfield, behind £125m Alexander Isak.
Deal structure and negotiations
Liverpool will pay an initial fee of £106m with a further £17m in add-ons after summer-long talks with PSG, which saw a breakthrough in negotiations toward the back end of last week. The French giants had initially been holding out for closer to £145m, but after weeks of discussions, which went on and off, an agreement in principle was finally reached in the early hours of Thursday (August 27).
Barcola was then given the green light to fly to England to complete the formalities of his move after the finer details of the enormous deal were ironed out. The attacker flew into Merseyside over the weekend and underwent a medical on Sunday ahead of the formal confirmation of the switch from Paris.
Player's desire and background
Liverpool identified Barcola as their No.1 priority back in June, and the winger, who turns 24 this Wednesday, expressed his desire to move to Anfield, making it clear he wouldn't consider a contract extension at Parc des Princes. Barcola, who was also linked with Arsenal in the summer, is understood to have viewed the Reds as his dream destination, but progress on negotiations was only incremental while PSG added to their own ranks.
The Champions League holders eventually signed Mika Godts to go alongside Ferran Torres and Maghnes Akilouche to bolster a frontline that already contains Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue and current Ballon d'Or holder Ousmane Dembele.
Club involvement and squad plans
Sporting director Richard Hughes had been in regular dialogue with his PSG counterpart Luis Campos all summer and also held exploratory talks over Senegal teenager Ibrahima Mbaye, who is now on the cusp of moving to Aston Villa. It's understood that Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon, who returned to Liverpool following Michael Edwards' departure as FSG's CEO of football earlier this summer, also provided input on the Barcola deal.
New head coach Andoni Iraola has been determined to add more pace and power out wide following the end-of-season departure of Mohamed Salah. And while Barcola primarily operates off the left side, Liverpool feel they have recruited one of the outstanding wingers of European football, given the Frenchman's pedigree.
Debut and squad number
Barcola will wear the No.29 shirt at Anfield, which he chose as his squad number at PSG in honour of the 'Alex Hunter' character from the hugely popular FIFA gaming franchise. The 23-year-old could make his Reds debut at Ipswich Town on Friday evening as Iraola's side go in search of their first win of the new Premier League season.
Barcola becomes the club's fourth signing of the summer after deals for Jeremy Jacquet, Victor Munoz and the loan agreement with Barcelona for Ronald Araujo.
