Why Bradley Barcola fits the winger profile Andoni Iraola wants at Liverpool

Liverpool were made to wait until the final stretch of the transfer window to solve their longest-running issue, but the club have now secured an agreement in principle to buy Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain. The deal starts at just over £100m and could climb to £120m. Andoni Iraola, who has made wingers an absolute pillar of his tactical plan, will finally have a top-class wide attacker to call on in a season where replacing Mohamed Salah looks like the biggest challenge of all.

• Liverpool will pay PSG just over £100m for Barcola, with the total potentially rising to £120m.
• Andoni Iraola admitted he would have preferred his wingers ready on day one, but accepts the wait if the final signing is right.
• The club previously tried to sign Yan Diomande and submitted two bids for Yankuba Minteh.
• Barcola arrives as a left winger, though Liverpool believe he can make the sort of leap Sadio Mane and Salah once made at Anfield.
• Antoine Semenyo, who played under Iraola at Bournemouth, is the model winger for the Basque coach's demands.

Why Liverpool took so long to close a winger deal

Mohamed Salah's departure did not catch anyone at Anfield by surprise. Eight months before the end of this window, the Egyptian had made his frustration clear after a match at Leeds and accused the club of letting him down. That episode should have accelerated the search for a successor, yet Liverpool needed almost 264 days to reach an agreement for Barcola.

Iraola accepts that patience was forced upon him. The Basque coach admits he would have preferred to have his new wingers working from the very first day of preseason. But he understands that the profile Liverpool want is in demand across Europe and that competing for players of that level means accepting long timelines. His message is simple: if the club ends up signing the right player, the wait will have been worth it even if he missed the summer work with the group.

Diomande, Minteh and a market that punishes hesitation

Before securing Barcola, Liverpool suffered a setback with Yan Diomande. The club submitted an offer of £86m for the RB Leipzig talent, but the Ivorian chose Real Madrid for £115m. It was a clear sign of rising prices for wingers: Salah cost £36.5m and soon looked a bargain, while elite wide players now command fees north of £100m.

The inflation did not help Liverpool. Chelsea paid £117m for Morgan Rogers and PSG initially quoted £145m for Barcola before negotiations finally unlocked. In between, Liverpool sent two bids for Brighton's Yankuba Minteh and monitored Crystal Palace's Ismaila Sarr. Both of those options tend to operate on the right, a different role from the one Barcola occupies.

What Iraola demands from wingers in his Liverpool system

The new Liverpool under Iraola needs wide players with a very specific blend of qualities. The coach explained that he wants wingers who can make the difference in isolation, attack space and still deliver the defensive work demanded of them in pressing and tracking full-backs. If they also produce goals and assists, the profile is complete.

Matching Salah's 257 goals for Liverpool is unrealistic. The club does not expect anyone to replicate that, only to post meaningful numbers. Barcola finished the last Ligue 1 season with 11 goals, one every 159 minutes. Across the full campaign with PSG he recorded 21 goals and 21 assists, and he arrives with three goals from the recent World Cup. That is not a bad starting point.

Semenyo, the winger model Iraola would have signed earlier

The blueprint for what Iraola wants in wide areas could have been wearing Liverpool red in January. Antoine Semenyo, tracked by the club for months, moved to Manchester City for £62.5m. Liverpool did not bid at the time, something they may now regret: the Ghanaian had scored 10 goals and added 3 assists in the first half of that season for a Bournemouth side managed by Iraola himself.

Semenyo normally operates on the right, exactly the position Liverpool must fill after Salah's exit. Barcola, by contrast, is most effective on the left. Even so, the Frenchman has been on the club's radar for years, having impressed against Liverpool in a friendly with Lyon in Dubai during the 2022 World Cup.

Barcola and the challenge of following Mane and Salah

Barcola's inconsistent starting role at PSG, where Desire Doue edged him out during the final stretch of the season, has raised some questions. Liverpool point to a familiar precedent: a decade ago, Sadio Mane and Salah arrived at Anfield without superstar billing and raised their level to become club legends.

It is difficult to find someone who can tick all the boxes, but it is what we are trying to do.

That quote from Iraola sums up the operation. Barcola ticks important boxes: he has pace, takes on defenders, attacks space and has shown he can contribute goals. Liverpool believe that, under the Basque coach, he can finally become the winger capable of meeting every demand the new system requires.