Why Liverpool are committed to signing their £116m star

It’s no secret at the moment that Liverpool could sign at least one new winger to strengthen Andoni Iraola’s squad in the summer transfer window.

Mohamed Salah officially became a free agent earlier this month after the club agreed to end his contract early so he can explore new opportunities this summer.

On Friday, the Egyptian international left Anfield with 257 goals and 123 assists in 442 appearances for the club, having helped his country reach the last 16 of the World Cup.

Liverpool need a replacement for Salah, but the Reds are also still looking for a replacement for Sadio Mane, who left the club to sign for Bayern Munich in 2022.

The Senegal international played 269 games in all competitions for the Premier League giants before moving to Germany, scoring 120 goals and providing 46 assists.

Liverpool do everything in their power to sign Ligue 1 star

FSG need to find a stable left-sided attacker who can provide the kind of threat that Mane provided on that flank, while also signing an attacker like Salah who can produce comparable points and goals on a regular basis.

With just under two months left to play, clubs are now eyeing a Mane-Salah hybrid star at Anfield.

According to Caught Offside, Liverpool are preparing to sign Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola, who played for France at the World Cup.

“Liverpool are going to try their best to sign Barcola. It won’t be easy to convince PSG so there are other targets, but Barcola is the one they want. Their recruitment team is doing their homework on him and that will accelerate after the World Cup,” a source told Caught Offside.

“Liverpool love Barcola and are willing to invest in a top winger. That said, it is true that PSG want to keep him. Whether they will let him go for a fee that Liverpool or anyone else deems reasonable cannot be said for sure at this point.”

There have been rumors from Premier League champions Arsenal for some time, and the transfer fee is said to be up to £116 million, so it won’t be an easy deal.

How Bradley Barcola can become a hybrid of Liverpool’s Sadio Mane and Mo Salah

If Liverpool can reach an agreement with PSG to bring Barcola to Anfield before the end of the summer transfer window, the French star could become something of a Mane-Salah hybrid for Iraola.

Like Mane, the French international is a right-footed forward who typically plays on the left side of the attack, cutting in with his favorite foot from wide positions to provide a threat in the final third.

But unlike the Senegal international, the £116m talent, who was described as “unpredictable” by Under-23 scout Antonio Mhango, has the quality to bring creativity to his team-mates on a regular basis from his role.

Barcola has created 25 goals and 29 ‘big chances’ in 48 Ligue 1 games over the past two seasons, showing that he has the qualities to provide both goals and creativity in equal measure.

This was not the case with Mane during his time at Liverpool. He was a great goalscorer, scoring at least 13 goals in all six seasons with the club, but never recorded double-digit assists in a season with the Reds.

Salah, on the other hand, regularly poses a threat both as a scorer and goal creator, having reached double figures for both goals and assists in eight of his nine seasons at the club.

Barcola has scored 34 goals and provided 26 assists in all competitions for PSG in 2024/25 and 2025/26, suggesting he has the potential to be as productive as Salah in the final third at Anfield.

However, he intends to do so from Mane’s old position as a right-handed left-winger, rather than as a replacement for Salah on the right-wing, so he could be a hybrid of both players.

Barcola’s signing would provide an exceptional and consistent attacker to strengthen the squad ahead of next season, although the Reds still need reinforcements on the right wing following Salah’s departure.