Liverpool's Attack Rebuild: The Pursuit of Barcola, Mbaye, and Endrick
Liverpool’s attack, once the most feared in Europe, suddenly looks ripe for surgery. The diagnosis from inside Anfield is blunt: they need width, they need pace, and they need it now.
Last season exposed the problem in unforgiving detail. Too often Liverpool played in straight lines, funnelling attacks through congested central areas, short on runners who could stretch a back four or isolate full-backs. The touchlines were underused, the tempo dulled, the threat predictable.
That’s why the recruitment plan has shifted so aggressively towards wingers.
From Diomande to Barcola
Yan Diomande was the original headline name. Liverpool went into the summer with the wide forward high on their list, seeing him as a solution to that lack of vertical threat. The move never materialised, but the intent was clear: reset the profile of the front line.
The focus has now swung to Paris. Liverpool are deep in negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain for Bradley Barcola, and, according to L’Equipe, are readying a €115m offer. That is elite, statement-fee territory, the sort of number that says this is not a depth signing, but a cornerstone of the next attacking era.
Barcola brings exactly what last season’s side cried out for: acceleration, direct running, and the courage to attack defenders one-on-one. He stretches games. He forces opponents back. He changes the geometry of a match.
And Liverpool are not stopping at one.
Double raid on PSG
Fabrice Hawkins reports that Liverpool are also working on a deal for Ibrahim Mbaye from PSG. Two forwards, two injections of speed and power, both capable of driving at the heart of defences.
On paper, that pair immediately shifts the tone of Liverpool’s attack. The front line, at times laboured and narrow, suddenly looks more explosive, more unpredictable. They tick the obvious boxes: pace, penetration, variety.
Yet the knock-on effects are just as significant. Cody Gakpo is expected to leave for Tottenham Hotspur if Barcola arrives, a move that would open up further space and responsibility in the forward unit. Even with Mbaye in, Liverpool would still be light on natural right-sided options.
That’s where the most intriguing piece of this puzzle appears.
The Endrick temptation
Liverpool’s long-standing admiration for Endrick has never really gone away. They wanted him back in 2022. Now, with the Brazilian having given the green light to a move away from Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu, the opportunity has re-emerged.
The club are well placed. The fit is obvious.
Endrick offers something Liverpool simply do not have: a left-footed attacker who can operate from the right and also through the middle. Remarkably, there is currently no left-footed forward in the squad. For a club that once built its cutting edge around the angles and unpredictability of its front three, that imbalance is stark.
He prefers playing centrally, and that matters too. With Hugo Ekitike sidelined until 2027, Liverpool lack a long-term option through the middle who can both finish and knit play together. In the right environment, Endrick has the tools to grow into that role. Some inside the game see echoes of Roberto Firmino in his movement, his intelligence, and his ability to link lines as well as finish chances.
For Liverpool, that “right environment” has a familiar name: Anfield.
A triple signing that changes everything
Barcola. Mbaye. Endrick.
Individually, each would add something Liverpool badly need. Together, they would amount to a complete recalibration of the attack: youth and energy, yes, but also World Cup experience, positional flexibility and a genuine threat from all angles.
The front line would no longer lean so heavily on one flank or one profile of forward. It would be built to run, to press, to hurt teams in transition and in settled possession. It would look less like a unit in gentle decline and more like a project on the rise.
Liverpool have talked about evolution rather than revolution since the peak years of their title-winning side. This, though, would be closer to a jolt. Big money, big risk, big upside.
The market is there. The targets are clear. The question now is simple: will Liverpool turn a bold plan into a brutal new reality for Premier League defences?
