Why Liverpool should be on red alert as Bradley Barcola 'allowed to leave' PSG
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The winger has two years left on his contract but lack of progress in talks has led to him being made available for transferOne of Liverpool's reported top targets to reinforce their ailing attack heading into the summer is said to have been made available for transfer by his club, after talks to renew the 23-year-old winger's contract broke down.The Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola, who is also reported to be on Arsenal's radar, made 49 appearances for the double European champions this season but struggled for starts in the biggest of games behind Georgian superstar Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in his favoured position on the left wing.Barcola was linked with the Reds last summer as a replacement for Luis Diaz, but Liverpool ultimately opted against signing a direct replacement with a view to reserving minutes for teenage prospect Rio Ngumoha.That decision arguably failed to pay off, but not because Ngumoha disappointed.He scored the winning goal against Newcastle United at St James' Park four days shy of his 17th birthday, becoming the club's youngest goalscorer of all time, and impressed with a further goal and assist over 29 appearances for Liverpool.The issue was rather that the youngster's more senior peers did not perform.It was probably the right decision by former manager Arne Slot to protect Ngumoha and carefully manage his development by restricting him to just 1,065 minutes of action across those 29 appearances, but Liverpool's principal wide options - Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo - failed to deliver the same returns as they had in the previous campaign when the Reds won the league in Slot's first season.With Salah and Slot both having departed the club in the close season and another backup option in Federico Chiesa open to a move, new head coach Andoni Iraola is now expected to oversee an overhaul of Liverpool's options on the wing this summer.The Reds have reportedly already made contact with RB Leipzig over the transfer of Yan Diomande, the 19-year-old breakout star of the Bundesliga last season who is set to lead the charge for Ivory Coast in the World Cup this summer.But Leipzig are expected to demand around €130m (£112m) for the right-winger, who has completed one season in senior football. Links to Barcola have persisted; with PSG also expected to vie for Diomande's signature, speculation was rife that the Frenchman could be made available if PSG landed the Leipzig winger ahead of Liverpool.Clarity appears to have come in the form of a report from L'Equipe (via Get French Football News).
Barcola's contract is set to expire in 2028, and no progress was made during talks between the club and Barcola's representatives earlier in the season.L'Equipe understands that "there is still no progress" in talks, which were resumed after being put on hold for the final stages of PSG's Champions League campaign - and that PSG "are no longer closed to the idea of selling Barcola" as a result, who now "could leave the club over the summer".The report reiterated interest from both Liverpool and Arsenal, stating that PSG "only want to keep players that are fully committed to the project" - despite manager Luis Enrique reportedly being keen to retain Barcola.It is unclear at this stage whether this development comes as a result of a breakthrough in terms of a potential replacement - possibly Diomande - but it appears PSG want to extract maximum value from Barcola, who they signed for €45m (£39m) from Lyon three years ago.Liverpool will no doubt remain attentive to further developments as Barcola remains one of the most exciting options on the market to strengthen the wide areas of Iraola's attack.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page