Could Barcola be the signing to spark Liverpool's title challenge into life?

But so far that hasn't materialised. That could all be set to change, however, if the club can pull off the signing of Bradley Barcola, which is becoming an ever-increasing possibility.

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Big-name buy

The PSG forward is exactly the kind of signing that Liverpool and the Premier League have lacked so far this transfer window.

Plenty of money has been spent, but the big buys have come from within the league, with the moves for Elliot Anderson and Morgan Rogers making the headlines.

Yet the league needs a sprinkling of marquee signings from abroad, and that could come in the shape of the Frenchman, who is one of the most exciting forwards in Europe and would help keep the Premier League's narrative as the place where the best want to play.

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Since moving to Paris in 2023, Barcola has been a huge part of the side that has won back-to-back Champions Leagues and continued to dominate French football. In over 152 appearances, he has scored 39 goals and provided 37 assists, and at 23, still has his best years ahead of him.

For Liverpool, it would be a statement of intent, as they look to challenge champions Arsenal and get back their crown, but it would also be a signing that their attack craves, having said goodbye to Mohamed Salah at the end of last term.

New look attack

Salah's departure came off the back of his worst season at Anfield, in a campaign where former boss Arne Slot failed to find the right blend to make his frontline work.

Last summer's huge outlay on Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak looked ominous on paper, but for most of the year, the team struggled to find the best way to accommodate them all.

Slot wasn't helped by the form and fitness of record buy Isak, who will surely have a better second season on Merseyside, while Ekitike missed the end of the campaign with his own injury setback.

How Iraola now foresees fitting all of these in successfully remains to be seen, especially when you add in Cody Gakpo, newly arrived Victor Munoz, and Rio Ngumoah, who's expected to play an even bigger role.

Indeed, one of the reasons the club's first attempt at signing Barcola last year was halted was so the pathway for Ngumoah wasn't blocked. However, with Salah gone, the teenager's role could be shifted more toward the right flank, which the Egyptian has now left open.

That paves the way for Barcola to easily slot in on the left flank, his most favoured position and then Wirtz as a number ten, with Isak leading the line, in a formation that the former Bournemouth boss favours.

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The set-up looks much more balanced and would surely bring a better goal return from a Liverpool attack who struggled last season.

Ekitike top scored in the league with just 11 goals, with Salah and Gakpo netting seven apiece. Those numbers must improve if the Reds have any ambitions of challenging Arsenal and Man City.

The caveat in all this is that the club will need to spend big to get their man, surpassing the £100m mark for the third time in twelve months.

But it could well be money well spent in the short term to show their new-season intentions, and then hope that long-term success means Barcola has brought exactly what the club bought him for.

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