Liverpool's Attack at a Crossroads: Barcola's Impact on Gakpo
Liverpool have spent the summer under the glare of the spotlight, but not in the way many at Anfield expected. This was supposed to be another clear-cut rebuild, a sharp reset of a squad edging towards a new era. Instead, with the window ticking towards its final month, the club feels stuck between two plans and two timelines.
Key players are being linked with exits. Others are waiting to see where they stand. Decisions that should shape the next three years are being squeezed into the next few weeks.
And nowhere is that tension more obvious than in attack.
Life after Salah – and a hole on the right
Hugo Ekitike is out until at least January. Mohamed Salah is gone, now a Trabzonspor player and no longer the fixed point of Liverpool’s frontline. The “Egyptian King” has left a vacancy that can’t simply be patched over with a utility forward and a few tactical tweaks.
Names have been floated, agents have circled, rumours have churned. Yet most of the forwards linked so far are, curiously, left-sided players rather than natural right-wingers.
In modern football, that isn’t a disaster. Coaches love versatility, sporting directors love it even more, and plenty of elite attackers now drift across the front line. But if Liverpool want someone to walk straight into the team and carry the weight Salah once shouldered, they need at least one specialist on that right flank.
Against that backdrop, the emerging picture around Bradley Barcola is striking.
Barcola in, Gakpo down the ladder
If Liverpool land Barcola from PSG, Cody Gakpo’s status changes overnight.
“Bradley Barcola would be signed to play left wing for Liverpool, not the Salah replacement,” Anfield Sector reported on X, cutting through the noise around the Frenchman’s role.
“He would come in ahead of Cody Gakpo in the pecking order should a deal be agreed with PSG, with negotiations progressing slowly but the PSG hierarchy currently unwilling to compromise on a €150m+ valuation.”
That is a brutal line for Gakpo. Not out of the squad. Not out of the club. But very clearly out of first choice.
The numbers around the deal are eye-watering. PSG are holding firm at a valuation north of €150m, and Liverpool are in no mood to be bullied in the market. Yet the fact the club are even entertaining a move at that price range tells you how they see Barcola – and, by extension, how they now see Gakpo.
From high point to harsh reality for Gakpo
Rewind one season and the narrative was very different.
In 2024-25, Gakpo stood out as one of Liverpool’s most effective attackers. Operating from the left, he went toe-to-toe with Luis Díaz for a starting berth and produced one of his best campaigns in a red shirt. Direct, decisive, and finally looking like the player Liverpool thought they had signed.
He began 2025-26 as the club’s only recognised left-winger. It should have been the platform for him to cement his place, to become undroppable.
Instead, his form fell off a cliff.
Performances dipped, confidence drained, and the promise of the previous year faded into a string of flat displays. The crowd at Anfield saw it, and they made their preference clear: they wanted Rio Ngumoha.
Eventually, Arne Slot listened. The youngster was handed starts, and with them came a new energy on that flank. From that moment, Gakpo’s position stopped being a debate and became a problem to solve.
No surprise, then, that Liverpool have been heavily linked with a series of left-wingers ever since. Among that list, Barcola stands out as the most complete fit.
Why Barcola changes the picture
Barcola’s appeal is obvious. Last season he contributed to 20 goals across all competitions, and he did it while moving across the front three. Left, right, central – he found ways to influence games from every lane.
That flexibility makes him a manager’s dream and, crucially, marks him out as more adaptable than Gakpo. Where the Dutchman has struggled to consistently impose himself outside his favoured role, Barcola has shown he can shift and still deliver.
Liverpool’s recruitment team have long targeted players who can cover multiple roles in a high-intensity system. Barcola fits that template. Gakpo, at this point in his Anfield career, fits it far less convincingly.
There are still plenty of moving parts: PSG’s valuation, Liverpool’s willingness to push that far, the domino effect on other deals. But the football logic is clear.
If Liverpool can effectively flip Gakpo for Barcola – whether as a direct swap or as two separate moves – it is the kind of ruthless, forward-facing decision that has defined their best transfer work in recent years.
The question now is simple: in a summer where Liverpool risk standing still, will they be bold enough to make it?
