Liverpool's Search for Salah's Successor: Barcola Emerges as Key Target
Liverpool are bracing for life after Mohamed Salah, and the search for a new wide talisman has taken a familiar twist: the first choice looks destined for someone else, so the spotlight swings to a high‑ceiling alternative.
This time, that alternative is Bradley Barcola.
Diomande slipping away, PSG closing in
For months, Liverpool have pushed hard for Yan Diomande, identifying the 19-year-old RB Leipzig winger as their primary attacking target. They made their move, they set their ceiling, and they stuck to it.
Leipzig did not blink.
The German club want significantly more than the £86m Liverpool were prepared to put on the table for the Ivory Coast international. Liverpool have been unwilling to go beyond that figure, and that stance now leaves Paris Saint-Germain in pole position.
Diomande has indicated he wants PSG. The French and European champions have already agreed personal terms with the winger on a contract running to 2031, and are locked in club-to-club talks with Leipzig to finish the deal. Unless something dramatic changes, Liverpool’s top target is heading to Paris.
So Liverpool turn to the next name on the board. And it is one PSG might just be willing to lose.
Barcola: unsettled talent in Paris
Bradley Barcola features prominently among Liverpool’s contingency options. The 23-year-old is admired not just for his direct running and creativity, but for the profile he offers: young, Champions League-tested, and potentially available at a moment when his current club cannot quite guarantee him the status he craves.
His situation at PSG is delicate. Barcola has grown frustrated with his role in the biggest games, most notably being overlooked for the Champions League final win against Arsenal. For a winger of his ambition, watching from the fringes on nights like that cuts deep.
The tension has been building. Sky Sports News have already reported this month that Barcola could leave PSG this summer if he returns from the World Cup with France still unhappy with his position in the squad.
PSG’s stance reflects that uncertainty. They would prefer to keep him, they see his value, but they will not block a move if he pushes to go and a club meets their valuation. There will be no discount. With two years left on his contract, this is the ideal window for the Ligue 1 champions to cash in if Barcola refuses to extend.
Liverpool, hunting a successor to Salah on that right flank and already recalibrating their attack, are watching closely.
Liverpool’s rebuild on the wings
The reshaping of Liverpool’s forward line is already under way. Victor Munoz has arrived from Osasuna for £34.5m, adding a fresh wide option to the squad. The club are executing a carefully planned transition from the Salah era, not scrambling in its aftermath.
Jeremy Jacquet has also joined from Rennes for £60m, another significant investment in the next phase of the team.
The departures underline the scale of change. Andy Robertson has left for Tottenham on a free transfer, Ibrahima Konate has gone to Real Madrid on a free, and Salah himself has been released. The dressing room that defined Liverpool’s recent years is being stripped back and rebuilt.
Against that backdrop, the choice of wide players now carries enormous weight. Get it right, and Liverpool can pivot quickly into a new cycle. Get it wrong, and they risk drifting behind the Premier League’s pace-setters.
Arsenal lurking, but looking elsewhere
Liverpool are not alone in tracking Barcola. Arsenal have also been keeping tabs on the PSG winger, aware that a player of his age and pedigree rarely comes onto the market without serious competition.
Yet at this stage, Arsenal’s priority for the left-wing position appears to be Morgan Rogers at Aston Villa. Their gaze is not fixed on Barcola in the way Liverpool’s might soon be, especially if Diomande’s move to PSG is completed.
That could open a clearer path for Liverpool, if they decide Barcola is the right answer to the question Salah’s exit has left behind.
The next decisive call
Liverpool have already shown in the Diomande pursuit that they will not be dragged beyond what they believe is fair value. PSG’s stance on Barcola is just as firm: they will sell only at their price, and only if the player wants out.
Somewhere between those two positions lies a decision that could shape Liverpool’s attack for years.
Do they push hard for a winger frustrated by his role at Europe’s dominant club, betting that a central place at Anfield unlocks his full potential? Or do they walk away again, holding their line on valuation and looking for yet another name?
The Salah era is over. The identity of the winger who defines what comes next is still very much in play.
