Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com after (finally) putting pen to paper to sign for Liverpool, new boy Bradley Barcola expressed his happiness that the deal is finally done:
“First of all, it’s a great pride to be able to play for Liverpool. I’m very happy. It took a long time but I’m really happy today to be able to play for Liverpool and all I want is to be on the pitch and be able to play.
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“[In the final waiting stages] I was with my family, quietly, waiting for it to happen. When I saw the news, I was very
happy and surrounded by people I love the most. We celebrated well and all we hope now is to be able to enjoy it together here.”
Barcola explained what, specifically, drew him to Liverpool from PSG:
“Honestly, it’s the passion of the fans. I had the chance to play twice in this stadium and I saw the atmosphere and how the fans were behind the Liverpool players. When I knew about Liverpool’s interest in me, I didn’t ask questions and I knew it was a very big club for me.”
In just over a week Barcola will have a chance to experience Anfield as a Liverpool player for the first time. He looks forward to it:
“First of all, it was very hard [to play at Anfield with PSG] because there are some very good players here and it’s a very good team. And then it’s even harder because of the supporters, the atmosphere that there was. And that’s it, knowing that I can play for this team today is really important to me and that’s all I hope, is to play as soon as possible.
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“I just want to play, that’s all I’m waiting for. It will be incredible. Once again, when I heard that Liverpool were interested in me, I thought back to the atmosphere in the stadium and once again I was able to feel it. It’s nothing but a joy to play for a club like that.”
He thinks his skillset will be a good match for Liverpool:
“[My goal,] It’s to bring speed, danger. I think the style of play of the coach and my style of play are very similar, so I think I can only add more of the same to this team. That’s all I hope to do… I’ve been able to play many times against teams from the Premier League. I think my qualities are very good for the Premier League.”
He spoke, too, of his early chats with new boss Andoni Iraola:
“Here, I was able to talk to him several times and he told me that my quality brought a real plus to this team and that he was counting on me, that he had confidence in me. That’s what made me want to join this team, because when you have the confidence of a coach you can only be good on the pitch. So, it’s a very good thing to play with such a good coach.”
As for his hopes in Red and his first message to the fans, Barcola is simply excited to get started:
“I hope to achieve very big things. First of all, winning the Premier League – it’s one of my biggest dreams in my life. So yeah, it is to do that and to stay in this team in the long term – that’s why I signed a long contract – and I hope I can do it.
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“I will give my all for this team and thank you for accepting me in such a big club, for supporting us. I hope I will make them proud.”
