Bradley Barcola answers Arne Slot's MEGA demand

Bradley Barcola is a player who answers Arne Slot's big demand. Liverpool are now moving towards a deal.

Arne Slot had a request for Liverpool on taking over a year ago: six forwards. That's part of a larger demand to have two solid players for every role on the pitch.

Slot plays with a front three, therefore six forwards are necessary. It led to Liverpool completing a move for Federico Chiesa, even if the Italian barely featured across the campaign.

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But it's why Chiesa didn't leave in January. In fact, no forwards did despite offers for both the winger and Darwin Nunez.

Ultimately, that was the correct decision but now players are leaving the club and Liverpool need to replace them. Currently, they only have three forwards certain to be at the club this season.

Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike. That's it, assuming Nunez and Chiesa do in fact complete moves away.

Rio Ngumoha is an option on the left but still incredibly raw - we're not sure Liverpool will actually count him among the six. Instead, they'll need to sign at least one forward and potentially three.

That's a complicated prospect. Liverpool's best chance of doing it, then, will be with versatile forwards who can cover multiple roles just in case a full three signings can't be found.

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Liverpool eye Bradley Barcola

So with that in mind, there’s Bradley Barcola. L’Equipe claims there’s real interest from Liverpool in the Paris Saint-Germain forward.

Journalist Sacha Tavolieri understands an offer is on the way, too. Liverpool would be smart to make one.

Barcola is now fourth in the pecking order at PSG but remains an incredible talent. And still only 22, too.

14 goals and 10 assists last season stands out as comfortably the best season of his career and even better, the underlying data suggests it wasn’t a fluke. Barcola was simply brilliant but not quite brilliant enough to oust his teammates for a consistent starting role.

Liverpool may want to offer him that and certainly have the money to do so. But the reason they really might make the move is because of his versatility.

Barcola can operate in any of the three forward roles. He’s best from the left, undoubtedly, but his numbers from the right are still very impressive.

Given he’s still only 22, he could easily get more comfortable in that particular role and be a genuine threat there. Last season was just the start - three starts on the right, 1 goal and 3 assists from 223 minutes.

This is exactly the kind of player Liverpool need to sign in order to give Slot the flexibility he wants in his squad. Barcola might end up being a €100m bargain, in fact, as at 22 he may end up as a considerably better player than he is now, too, both in versatility and ability.

Watch this space.

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