According to Fabrizio Romano, the development of Olympique Lyon’s Bradley Barcola is currently being closely monitored by numerous clubs. One of them is Liverpool, although the Italian transfer expert says the race is completely open at the moment.
Liverpool supporters will be happy to hear that their club is working on recruiting new players after the disappointment of him dropping out of the contract race with Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham. Barcola, however, is not quite at the same stage of development as the England international, even if he is a few months older.
Moreover, the 20-year-old Barcola is not a midfielder but a winger. Preferring to play on the left flank, he is quite a versatile striker, quite capable of creating problems in defense on the right or through the center. He hadn’t scored a first-team goal until the start of this season, but has since scored seven goals and provided four assists in 29 games for Lyon in all competitions.
Liverpool’s interest is likely due to the fact that Luis Diaz, who replaced Sadio Mane as Jurgen Klopp’s first left winger, was sidelined for five months with a serious knee injury. This forced Klopp to cast Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota in the role, although they all prefer a central attacking role.
On the other hand, Barcola’s Lyon contract runs for three more seasons and is unlikely to come cheap despite his tender years. Lyon will likely look to keep the France under-21s as part of their plans for the future.
Many European clubs are following talented OL striker Bradley Barcola, born in 2002. Understand, Liverpool are among the teams following his development with their scouts, but the race is open. 🔴🇫🇷 #exercise
This season, Barcola has scored 7 goals and provided 4 assists for the first team. pic.twitter.com/8CGZqYjZg2
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 14, 2023