Liverpool are closing in on one of the summer\u2019s most drawn-out deals, with Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola approaching a move to Anfield. The transfer is not yet complete, and complications could still appear, but the 23-year-old is already being viewed as a major attacking addition after two Champions League-winning seasons with PSG.<\/p>\n
For Liverpool, the key issue is not whether Barcola can help, but where he should play. The France international has long looked most effective on the left, and that is where he is expected to operate if the move goes through. He has the pace, directness and final-third threat Liverpool have lacked since Luis D\u00edaz departed, and there is a clear argument that he is the closest thing to Mohamed Salah\u2019s long-term successor in spirit.<\/p>\n
That does not mean he should be pushed into Salah\u2019s old role on the right. Liverpool do not need to buy a player of Barcola\u2019s calibre and then move him away from the zone that best suits him. Playing him out of position would only limit what he offers. Cody Gakpo, Rio Ngumoha and Victor Mu\u00f1oz would all see their preferred minutes affected, but the priority must be getting the new signing into his strongest area.<\/p>\n
Andoni Iraola will be expected to build around him. Barcola can stretch the pitch, take up advanced positions, and drift into half-spaces on the far side of the opposition right-back. He will also be asked to work hard without the ball, just as he did under Luis Enrique at PSG, but with possession he should have the freedom to create. With no natural right winger in the squad, Liverpool are likely to lean heavily to the left, especially with Wirtz also drifting that way.<\/p>\n
The numbers support the excitement. In Ligue 1 last season, Barcola ranked third for combined expected goals and expected assists per 90, and 12th for successful dribbles and shots per match. Across all competitions, he delivered 21 goal involvements. Liverpool should resist any temptation to send him right. Doing so would blunt his best qualities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liverpool can sign Bradley Barcola, but Andoni Iraola must use him on the left, not the right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18796,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}