On Thursday, Saudi Pro League giants Al Hilal agreed an initial £46m deal with Liverpool for the transfer of Darwin Nunez, who has yet to complete his move but has said his goodbyes on Merseyside and jetted off to the Gulf for a medical.
What a ride. Entertaining at times, excruciating at others, Nunez leaves Liverpool as a Premier League campaign, but also having failed to ever live up to the promise that led Jurgen Klopp to champion his initial £64m signing from SL Benfica.
Arne Slot has worked wonders at Liverpool, but cracking this code proved beyond even his managerial capacity.
Nunez has been replaced by Hugo Ekitike, who left Eintracht Frankfurt and joined the Reds for £79m last month. Aged 23, the Frenchman arrived with similarly untapped potential, though confidence from the data analysts that they have hit the jackpot.
With Florian Wirtz having signed for a £100m fee too, which could rise to a British record £116m with add-ons, you’d think Liverpool are well equipped for the season ahead, but FSG still want another star to complete the set.
Especially since Luis Diaz has been sold to Bayern Munich for £65.5m, leaving space for the right player to join.
Alexander Isak, anyone?
The latest on Liverpool's search for forwards
Isak has achieved great things across his three years at Newcastle United, but his head has been turned by Slot and Liverpool and he has informed Eddie Howe of his wish to purchase a one-way ticket to Merseyside this summer.
Liverpool’s sporting director, Richard Hughes, has already lodged a formal £110m offer for the Sweden striker, which was rejected, but efforts are ongoing, and those in the Anfield offices must be tacitly confident that they will secure the coveted signature.
The intensity with which Newcastle are fighting to sign a new centre-forward does make an interesting comment on Isak’s future, with his position at St. James’ Park surely untenable at this stage.
However, nothing is certain in the summer transfer window, the least of all Newcastle’s capacity to secure a suitable replacement for a striker as prolific as Isak.
Given that Diaz has departed and is now warming to life with Bayern Munich, Liverpool may not make their final offensive signing a number nine, should Isak slip through Hughes’ fingers.
Instead, Liverpool might choose to target a move for Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola, with reports dated earlier this week revealing that the Merseysiders have started their bid for the France international.
Barcola, 22, played an instrumental role in PSG winning the quadruple with Luis Enrique last season, and he has been priced at €100m (about £87m) as the Parisians attempt to ward off suitors.
Why Liverpool should sign Bradley Barcola
Barcola might still be young, but he dazzled as PSG laid ruin to European football last year, posting 21 goals and supplying 21 assists across 64 matches in all competitions.
The France international is principally a left-sided forward, but his clinical nature also lends itself to a role at centre-forward, having played on the alternate flanks before too.
It’s interesting to consider how he likely has plenty of levels left to scale, and more curious still that Slot has the track record of bringing the best out of up-and-coming talents like Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch.
But Barcola’s artistry and obscene numbers across direct and creative berths suggest that he might even become Liverpool’s new version of Wirtz, who has yet to play a competitive fixture for the club but has demonstrated across recent years in his homeland that he is one of the most talented players of his generation.
Barcola’s fleet footwork and trophy-laden start to his career could see him emulate Wirtz and indeed become Slot’s latest version of the German superstar, who has actually been described as “probably the best midfielder in the world” by one-time Leverkusen striker Patrick Helmes.
24/25
45 (36)
15
16
23/24
49 (39)
18
20
22/23
25 (19)
4
8
21/22
31 (27)
10
14
20/21
38 (31)
8
8
19/20
9 (4)
1
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But then Barcola, too, has catapulted himself into the elite sphere since swapping Lyon for PSG in 2023, with analyst Ben Mattinson even naming him as “one of the best left wingers in Europe.”
And it’s clear through the data that he has the same X-factor that Wirtz uses to produce such awe-inspiring performances with regularity.
Indeed, as per FBref, the 6 foot 2 star ranked among the top 7% of positional peers last season for direct goal involvements, the top 16% for pass completion, the top 9% for progressive carries and the top 1% for touches in the attacking penalty area per 90.
There’s no question that he’s got what it takes to thrive for Liverpool in the Premier League, having run roughshod over Premier League opposition – including Slot’s Liverpool – en route to the Champions League title last season.
Though Liverpool have authorised the sale of Nunez, they have a player in Ekitike who has the potential to become one of the deadliest goalscorers in the world.
But having lost Diaz to the Bundesliga champions, the very dynamism of Slot’s frontline has taken a hit, with the Colombian ace playing as a makeshift striker on numerous occasions throughout the 2024/25 season.
Barcola is versatile and balanced in his output, and would be the perfect addition to complete a remarkable summer of spending, should Hughes and the rest of the powers that be fail to seal the signature of Newcastle’s star man.
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ByAngus Sinclair