The staggering cost of Liverpool’s starting XI once Bradley Barcola has joined for £120m
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Liverpool are set to sign a third £100m+ footballer in the space of just one year, with a fee now agreed for the transfer of Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain.Barcola will reportedly arrive for a guaranteed fee of just over £100m, with another £20m in add-ons bringing the total package to £120m.The Frenchman slots between Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak as Liverpool‘s most expensive players, and joins a Reds attack which is now one of the most costly in football history. 💣Just how good a signing will Bradley Barcola be for Liverpool? The Reds have FINALLY found an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain Photo Credit: Getty Images/Harry Langer/DeFodi Images/DeFodi It is a sharp change of approach from what was previously one of the most frugal elite clubs in the sport, and when adding up the cost of Liverpool’s current best XI – including Barcola – you really get the picture of just how much the Reds have spent.
Defence – £271.5mThe one area of the pitch where Liverpool were not afraid to spend big in the past was on their defence, securing Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk for a combined £142m within six months of each other in 2018.Van Dijk remains the most expensive defender in the club’s history, but was worth every penny of his £75m fee, while Alisson cost £67m, and has been equally worth the dough. Jeremy Jacquet looks like he can justify his £60m fee as well, though it is very early days for the Frenchman.READ MORE: Bradley Barcola could be facing one of the fastest players in the Premier League on his Liverpool debutIn the meantime, full-back pair Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez absolutely have not looked good value for money.Frimpong cost £29.5m with Kerkez arriving for £40m during the summer of 2025.Midfield – £210mLiverpool invested plenty of money into their midfield in 2023, shelling out over £130m on four different players.Dominik Szoboszlai was the costliest of those at £60m, which now looks like an excellent piece of business, while both Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister were around the £34-35m mark.Gravenberch was £1m cheaper than the Argentine, and since he has overtaken him for a spot in the XI, his is the fee we will include here.
Despite his current struggles, Wirtz also remains in Liverpool’s best team, and though he has not even come close to paying back the £116m Bayer Leverkusen received for his services, hopefully he the German can still come good.Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty ImagesAttack – £279mThis could change again by the time the window closes on Tuesday, but Liverpool’s best attack currently consists of Barcola, Isak and Victor Munoz.Rio Ngumoha could drop the overall cost here having being bought for a nominal fee from Chelsea, but after Sunday’s clash against Newcastle, Munoz looks the best option on the right at the moment.The Spaniard cost £34m from Osasuna, making him by far the cheapest player at the front end of the pitch in Liverpool’s best XI.Even Barcola at £120m cannot take the top spot, with Isak costing the Reds a British record fee of £120m last year.Added together, the total cost of Liverpool’s current starting XI is £760.5m. Yes, there are mitigating circumstances surrounding how things have gone, but, given this remarkable outlay, there can be no excuses for not challenging for trophies this season.