Liverpool Targets Bradley Barcola and Brahim Diaz for Right Wing

Liverpool’s search for a new right-wing talisman is accelerating, and the club’s transfer strategy is starting to take on a clear shape: Bradley Barcola first, Brahim Diaz if that fails.

Barcola the priority – at a huge price

With Mohamed Salah gone and only Victor Munoz arriving from Osasuna to bolster the wide areas, Fenway Sports Group know they need a statement signing on the right. Inside Anfield, that name is Barcola.

The Paris Saint-Germain winger, fresh from starring for France at the 2026 World Cup, has already informed PSG he will not sign a new contract. That stance has opened the door for Europe’s elite, and Liverpool have stepped through it with intent.

TEAMtalk journalist Graeme Bailey has described Barcola as Liverpool’s “top target” this summer, stressing there is “no doubt” about the hierarchy’s preference. Liverpool have done this before: Bailey pointed out that, earlier in the window, nobody had pushed harder than them for Yan Diomande. Now that same focus has shifted firmly to Barcola.

Crucially, Liverpool know the scale of the challenge. PSG are understood to have set a £145million asking price, a figure that reflects their view of Barcola as one of Europe’s premier young forwards and the reality of a seller’s market.

Barcola’s camp, according to Bailey, have made it clear he would be open to a move to Anfield. Liverpool, for their part, are preparing a move but want to strike a deal well below PSG’s valuation and under their own British-record £125million outlay on Alexander Isak. Whether PSG will bend is another matter, especially with Arsenal still strongly interested.

For now, the standoff continues. Barcola has again told PSG in the past week that he has no intention of extending his deal, a position that could eventually push the French champions towards a decision: cash in or dig in.

Brahim Diaz waits in the wings

Liverpool, though, are not gambling everything on one outcome. Behind the Barcola pursuit sits a shortlist of alternatives, and high among them is Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz.

The Morocco international, under contract at the Bernabeu until 2027, offers exactly the kind of versatility Liverpool value. He prefers the right flank but can drift inside as an attacking midfielder or switch to the left, giving any coach tactical flexibility across the front line.

His problem in Madrid is simple: congestion. Under Jose Mourinho, Diaz faces a fight for minutes, with Real set to bring in Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig to operate on the right. Kylian Mbappe is expected to lead the line through the middle, with Vinicius Junior locked in on the left. That attacking trio leaves little space for Brahim to grow into a central role.

That context has put him firmly on Liverpool’s radar. Bailey reports that Diaz is one of the options under consideration for the right flank if the Barcola deal proves impossible to land.

The situation in Madrid could become even more fluid. TEAMtalk revealed over the weekend that Liverpool have also made contact with the camp of Vinicius Junior, who, like Diaz, is out of contract next summer. It underlines the scale of Liverpool’s ambition in the market: they are not just browsing, they are probing the availability of some of the biggest names in the game.

Bailey added that Liverpool have “previously explored” the situations of Brahim Diaz, Arda Guler and Endrick, and that all three could see their futures revisited if Madrid receive suitable offers in light of Diomande’s arrival.

Liverpool’s recruitment team, then, are working with options rather than dreams. Barcola remains the headline target, but the club’s gaze stretches from Paris to Madrid, from a World Cup breakout star to a technically gifted winger squeezed by the weight of Galactico competition.

The question now is not whether Liverpool will strike for a right winger. It is which of Europe’s brightest talents they manage to prise free first.