Liverpool Targets Brahim Diaz as Barcola's £145m Price Tag Rises
Liverpool’s post-Salah rebuild on the right flank is beginning to look like a high‑stakes game of alternatives, with Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz emerging as a serious contingency if their push for Bradley Barcola stalls.
Fenway Sports Group want a marquee right-winger to headline the new era. Victor Munoz has arrived from Osasuna, but inside the club there is no doubt: the starting berth vacated by Mohamed Salah still needs an elite replacement.
Barcola the priority – at a huge cost
Bradley Barcola sits at the top of Liverpool’s wishlist. That much, according to TEAMtalk journalist Graeme Bailey, is not in dispute.
“Barcola is Liverpool’s top target, there is no doubt about that,” Bailey said, outlining how the France international has become the focal point of their summer planning.
Barcola’s stock has rocketed. He shone for France at the 2026 World Cup, he has told Paris Saint-Germain he will not sign a new contract, and his camp have let Liverpool know he is open to Anfield. The door is ajar.
The problem is the price.
PSG are understood to have slapped a £145million valuation on the winger. They know exactly what they have: one of Europe’s most coveted young forwards, in a market where sellers dictate the pace.
Liverpool, for their part, are preparing a move but want to come in below that figure – and ideally beneath the British-record £125m they previously paid for Alexander Isak. How far PSG are willing to bend is unclear, especially with Arsenal still firmly in the race and watching developments closely.
Bailey also indicated that Barcola has again informed PSG over the past week that he will not extend his deal, a stance that could eventually force the French champions to make a decision rather than risk losing a premium asset on their terms.
Brahim Diaz on the radar if Barcola proves out of reach
Liverpool are not betting everything on one outcome. Behind the Barcola pursuit sits a list of alternatives, and Brahim Diaz is among the most prominent names on it.
The Real Madrid winger, formerly of Manchester City, is under contract at the Bernabeu until 2027. A Morocco international, he is naturally suited to the right flank but brings welcome versatility, able to slot in as an attacking midfielder or off the left.
His problem is minutes. Under Jose Mourinho, and with Madrid set to bring in Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig to play on the right, the competition in the attacking line is brutal. Diomande is earmarked for that right-sided role, with Kylian Mbappe through the middle and Vinicius Junior locked in on the left.
In that picture, Brahim Diaz risks becoming a rotation piece rather than a regular starter.
That is where Liverpool see an opening. Bailey reports that Diaz is one of the options under consideration for the right flank if the Barcola deal proves too expensive or too complicated to close.
TEAMtalk also revealed over the weekend that Liverpool have made contact with the camp of Vinicius Junior, who, like Diaz, is out of contract next summer. It underlines just how aggressively Liverpool are probing the Madrid forward line, searching for any crack in the Spanish giants’ armour.
Bailey added that Liverpool have “previously explored the situations of Brahim Diaz, Arda Guler and Endrick,” and that all three could see their futures revisited if Madrid receive suitable offers in the wake of Diomande’s arrival.
A reshaped attack, a narrowing window
Liverpool’s recruitment team know the stakes. Salah has gone, the right side of the attack is being rebuilt, and the club is trying to balance ambition with financial discipline in a market where elite forwards rarely come cheap or uncomplicated.
Barcola remains the dream signing. Brahim Diaz and others sit in the wings, ready to move into focus if that dream collides with PSG’s demands.
The question now is simple: who blinks first – the sellers guarding their stars, or a Liverpool hierarchy determined not to overpay as they reshape one of the Premier League’s most feared front lines?
