Confirmed: Liverpool want deal for £128m forward they absolutely love

Liverpool have missed out on their ideal replacement for Mohamed Salah.

The Egyptian King, 34, reached a deal to rip up his £400k per week contract one year early. He is expected to sign for Besiktas - leaving a big gap in the Liverpool attack.

Richard Hughes moved quickly to seal a deal for Yan Diomande. But Liverpool’s offer of up to €100m for the Ivorian 19-year-old was rejected by RB Leipzig.

It now appears that the forward is going to stay in the Bundesliga for one more season at least. That development has led the outgoing Premier League champions to look down their shortlist.

Said El Mala, Yankuba Minteh and Matias Fernandez-Pardo are all reported to be on the radar.

Liverpool absolutely love Barcola

But the one winger Liverpool would love to sign according to David Lynch on his YouTube channel is Bradley Barcola.

"Quick update on Bradley Barcola and where we're up to with that one,” Lynch tells his YouTube audience.

“I've had Liverpool sources effectively confirm to me this week they absolutely love him as a player. There's no doubt about that. They are one of many clubs who really, really like him.

“Their admiration has been long-standing, and they really do continue to admire him coming into this window.

"It's more about now in terms of him potentially signing for Liverpool down to kind of the numbers around that deal, what's being demanded and the feasibility of it.

“Of course, then whether he chooses Liverpool versus other suitors that he might have, what kind of contract offers he's getting as well.

“It's not about whether they like the player or not. I think you can pretty much nail that down now that Liverpool really do admire Bradley Barcola and would like to sign him if the opportunity presents itself."

Barcola slipping down PSG pecking order

The 23-year-old is under contract at Paris Saint-Germain until 2028 but is no longer a first pick on the wing for Luis Enrique.

The European champions would love to tie the France international down to a new deal but so far a breakthrough hasn’t been forthcoming.

Liverpool need to pay £128m for Barcola

While PSG claim they don’t want to sell Barcola in this window a price tag of around €150m (£128m) has been put out there. That’s quite a lot - outstripping the record fee paid to Newcastle last summer for Alexander Isak.

But if Richard Hughes and Andoni Iraola believe Barcola is the man to add that requisite one-v-one quality out wide then they need to get the deal done.