Report: Marquee Liverpool transfer under fresh threat as Arsenal line up audacious hijack

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A report on Saturday has indicated that Liverpool could be at risk of seeing a direct Premier League rival hijack their plans to sign a prominent transfer target.On Friday, it briefly seemed as though the Reds had finally made a significant breakthrough in their well-publicised pursuit of Bradley Barcola when Portuguese reporter Pedro Almeida claimed that a move for the Paris Saint-Germain forward was a ‘done deal’ and a fee had been agreed between the two clubs.However, the more trusted Fabrizio Romano subsequently claimed that club-to-club talks were still ongoing and that an agreement was some way off, and it now seems that the Merseysiders could have fresh competition for the 23-year-old.Arsenal contact Barcola’s campAccording to Graeme Bailey for TEAMtalk, Arsenal have made contact with Barcola’s representatives and are now ‘firmly in the conversation’ to snap up the PSG attacker, in whom Liverpool’s interest is indeed ‘genuine’.The stance from Paris is that they’ve yet to receive a ‘firm offer’ for the France international, who they value at £128m, and the Gunners are ‘prepared to consider a significant investment’ for attacking reinforcements in the final weeks of the transfer window.The Reds have ‘done the most groundwork’ up to now and are still believed to be in ‘pole position’ for the player, but the threat from north London has made things ‘far from straightforward’.Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustNo need for Liverpool to panic…for nowThe wording of this report would suggest that Liverpool fans don’t need to unduly panic just yet, but the more time that elapses without Barcola moving to Anfield, the more that fears will grow over a potential hijack from Arsenal.The one line which could prompt worry among Kopites is the Gunners’ apparent readiness to make a ‘significant investment’, which hints that they’d be prepared to go all-out to gazump the Reds for the PSG forward.The Merseysiders could be faced with a massive dilemma – they won’t want to be bullied into paying more than what they believe the 23-year-old is worth, and rightly so, but that also comes with the risk of being outbid by Mikel Arteta’s side.The sight of the Premier League champions strengthening their ranks with a player Liverpool have so openly coveted would sting for LFC fans, especially when we’re on the cusp of a season in which we’ll be striving to reel in the north Londoners after the clubs’ contrasting fortunes last time around.At present, it appears as though the transfer race could be decided by which of the two English giants is prepared to put more money on the table for Barcola, and whether PSG would be willing to accept any such offers from either Anfield or the Emirates Stadium.