Liverpool have a lot of work left to do this summer in the transfer window now that the World Cup has ended, with a squad that was already thin and unbalanced last season with pace on the wings a particular issue having seen key stars depart this summer—including star winger Mohamed Salah—and little work done to replace them.
Bringing in Victor Muñoz last month was a good start, but at least one and preferably two more forward signings appear necessary and failing to do so would be seen as an utter
failure by sporting director Richard Hughes, who has largely fallen short of what’s needed across his two summers in charge and now plans to pop the parachute and escape to Saudi at the close of the current window.
Yan Diomande was meant to be the star replacement, but after briefing club-connected journalists that his was an all but done deal through June it turned out the player was only using Liverpool to drum up interest from Paris Saint-Germain. With Diomande off the table, the 1B target is meant to be PSG’s Bradley Barcola.
Now, French broadcasters RMC Sport are reportedly claiming that PSG would consider a sale for around £60M (€70M). This will raise eyebrows since previous talk had them seeking closer to £85M (€100M). It will also raise eyebrows that the French club are said to be starting to actively shop Barcola—including to Liverpool’s historic rivals Manchester United.
Given the way the market has skyrocketed in England this summer, £60M for Barcola seems almost reasonable, and given PSG’s previous stance that he wasn’t for sale unless Diomande arrived and that it would take a far more significant fee to get him even if that were to happen it’s hard not to be a little bit skeptical of the latest chatter.
Regardless, Liverpool very much do need another winger, whether that’s Barcola or a player like Bournemouth’s rising star Brazilian winger Rayan, and with pre-season having already begun last week there is a real need to get a few more signings done in a hurry to avoid new head coach Andoni Iraola being set up for failure before the 2026-27 season even kicks off.
