Liverpool Shifts Focus to PSG’s Bradley Barcola
Liverpool’s post‑Mohamed Salah rebuild has hit its first major swerve – and it has pushed Anfield’s gaze firmly towards Paris.
Yan Diomande, long identified by Fenway Sports Group as a marquee successor to the Egyptian, has chosen to prioritise a move to Paris Saint-Germain. RB Leipzig are digging in as well. They do not want to sell. The player, just 19 and lighting up the 2026 World Cup with Ivory Coast, prefers the Parc des Princes to the Kop.
So Liverpool have changed lane.
From Diomande to Barcola
With the Diomande route blocked on two fronts, Liverpool have moved onto another PSG talent: Bradley Barcola.
Sky Sport Switzerland journalist Sacha Tavolieri reported on June 29 that Liverpool are in direct contact with PSG over the France international winger. Posting on X at 12:53pm that day, he revealed that PSG have already spoken directly with several clubs, Liverpool among them, regarding Barcola’s future, and that Diomande’s impending transfer “automatically opens the door” to a departure for the Frenchman.
The message was clear: if Diomande comes in, Barcola can go out.
Liverpool have not waited around. TEAMtalk now report that the club have made fresh contact with Barcola’s agents this week. Their sources say Liverpool have spoken again with the 23‑year‑old’s representatives in recent days and received renewed encouragement that he is preparing to leave the Parc des Princes before the transfer window closes.
That is exactly the kind of signal Liverpool needed.
A serial winner on the market
Barcola is not a distressed asset. Far from it.
Since arriving at PSG in 2023, he has collected trophies at a rate that would make most players’ careers. Three Ligue 1 titles. Two Coupe de France triumphs. Two Champions League crowns. All by the age of 23.
He is also part of the France squad at the ongoing 2026 World Cup, another marker of his status at the top end of the European game.
Yet he is ready to move on. And PSG, reshaping their attack after securing Diomande, are prepared to listen.
The price of a Salah successor
This is where the negotiations turn heavy.
TEAMtalk claim PSG want €120 million (£103.3m) for Barcola. That figure mirrors what PSG themselves would need to put on the table for Diomande at Leipzig. In effect, Liverpool are being asked to pay the same premium for a winger as PSG are for their new attacking prize.
For Liverpool, who must replace Salah’s goals, aura and reliability in big moments, the equation is brutal but simple: pay elite money, or risk a step down in quality.
They have already seen their first-choice target drift towards Paris. Now the question is whether they are willing to drive the market to prise one of PSG’s own away.
