Liverpool are closing in on a (\u20ac140m) \u00a3120m deal for Bradley Barcola after a \u00adbreakthrough in talks with Paris Saint-Germain and will attempt to \u201cimprove other areas\u201d according to the head coach, Andoni Iraola.<\/p>\n
Barcola has been Liverpool\u2019s main transfer target all summer only for PSG\u2019s \u00a3145m valuation to prove a \u00adsignificant hurdle. However, negotiations on Wednesday night ended in an outline agreement being reached over a compromise fee. Liverpool will pay a guaranteed sum of just over \u00a3100m for the France international, with add-ons based on individual and team success, taking the overall package to about \u00a3120m.<\/p>\n
The full structure of the deal has not been finalised, but the breakthrough, coupled with PSG\u2019s willingness to lower their asking price for the 23-year-old, should allow \u00adBarcola to complete his move before Tuesday\u2019s transfer deadline. \u00adLiverpool were informed last month the player was keen to join them, \u00adhaving fallen down the pecking order at PSG.<\/p>\n
Barcola has two years remaining on his PSG contract, but told the club he will not be signing an extension. The two-time European champions have added Ferran Torres, \u00adMaghnes Akliouche and Mika Godts to their \u00adformidable attacking options this summer and have omitted Barcola from their matchday squads this season.<\/p>\n
PSG signed Barcola for \u20ac45m from Lyon in 2023 and the winger has played a prominent role in the rise of the Champions League winners. But Luis Enrique\u2019s preference for a front line of D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9, Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in PSG\u2019s biggest matches last season prompted Barcola to consider his options.<\/p>\n
The arrival of Barcola \u2013 and sources insist the deal is not done yet \u2013 would make him the second-most \u00adexpensive \u00adsigning in Liverpool\u2019s history behind the \u00a3125m Alexander Isak, but the club have still to land a replacement for Mohamed Salah on the right.<\/p>\n
\u00adLiverpool have had two bids rejected by Brighton for Yankuba Minteh and despite enquiring about Isma\u00efla Sarr\u2019s availability have not made an offer for the Crystal Palac forward.<\/p>\n
Cody Gakpo\u2019s future will be in doubt should the club sign two wingers before the \u00addeadline. The Netherlands \u00adinternational has \u00adinterest from Tottenham and \u00adManchester City and Iraola was unable to confirm that Gakpo will remain a Liverpool player beyond Tuesday. \u201cWhen the market is open you can not guarantee anything with anyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what is going to \u00adhappen with any of our players. You think I can smell who we are going to sign or what position, but \u00adexperience shows you that, if there is an \u00adopportunity on the last day, let\u2019s take it.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Barcola and a replacement for Salah are Liverpool\u2019s priorities for the remainder of the window, Iraola would like to strengthen in other areas given the long-term absences of the right-back Conor Bradley and striker Hugo Ekitik\u00e9.<\/p>\n
\u201cIdeally is the magic word,\u201d Iraola said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what we can do, but it\u2019s true the priority has been mostly in the wide areas. We have four or five days. I am sure if we can improve other areas we will but I don\u2019t know how the market is going to finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to look at the overall \u00adpicture. It\u2019s not just in this \u00adposition or the other. We know from the \u00adbeginning our demands. From the first day I arrived here I told you it was wingers, especially because we lost Mo Salah and then tricky situations with the players that have long-term injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are probably down a player in some positions and those have been our main issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest have completed the signing of the Chelsea striker Liam Delap in a club-record \u00a345m deal. The 23-year-old has a five-year contract at Forest, his third club in three seasons after he was told he was not part of Xabi Alonso\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n
Forest\u2019s new manager, Oliver Glasner, made him a priority during the transfer window and Delap said: \u201cI really can\u2019t wait to get started. This is a massive club with a big history. I spoke to the manager and I like his way, I think he can be the one to really help me develop and make that next step and hopefully I can bring goals here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former England youth international had been made to train separately at Chelsea and had the No 9 shirt reassigned to Jo\u00e3o Pedro. Chelsea have made a profit on a player they signed for \u00a330m from Ipswich a year ago, despite Delap scoring two goals in all competitions.<\/p>\n
Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Honest Ahanor from Atalanta for \u00a340m. The 18-year-old is one of the most highly rated young centre-backs in Italy and is regarded as one for the future by Chelsea, who are likely to send him on loan. \u2014 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool are closing in on a (\u20ac140m) \u00a3120m deal for Bradley Barcola after a \u00adbreakthrough in talks with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,1547,43,4442,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-606474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-liverpool-fc","tag-news","tag-paris-saint-germain","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}