Barcola's rocky road from Lyon reserves to Liverpool's record signing
Bradley Barcola has completed a £123m move from Paris St-Germain to Liverpool, capping a career that once stalled in Lyon's reserves before taking off with two Champions League titles.
French winger Bradley Barcola, 20, has completed a move from Paris St-Germain to Liverpool worth a reported £123m, becoming one of the Reds' marquee summer signings. His path to the transfer, however, was far from smooth.
Setbacks at Lyon
After impressing as a regular starter under coach Peter Bosz, Barcola fell out of favour when Laurent Blanc took charge of Lyon in October 2022 and was relegated to the reserves. According to L'Equipe, he came close to joining Swiss side St Gallen in January 2023. His fortunes changed after an incident involving forward Karl Toko Ekambi, who kicked a bin in frustration after being substituted against Strasbourg and never played for Lyon again. Barcola seized the opening, starting most of the remaining matches and scoring five goals, including a winner away at PSG.
Move to PSG and rise to prominence
Five months later, Barcola joined PSG for a reported £38.5m. Over three seasons in Paris he won three Ligue 1 titles and back-to-back Champions Leagues, while establishing himself in the France national team and scoring three goals at this summer's World Cup, where France reached the semi-finals.
Family support and what's next
Barcola has repeatedly credited his family, including older brother Malcolm, a professional goalkeeper, for keeping him grounded through difficult moments, including criticism following a poor performance against Newcastle for PSG. PSG boss Luis Enrique has described him as balanced, hard-working and driven by strong family values. At Liverpool, he will work under new manager Andoni Iraola, who observers believe is well suited to sharpening the one area pundits say Barcola still needs to improve: his finishing.
