Liverpool's Power Football Project: Barcola and Wirtz Set to Shine
Liverpool head back into Premier League duty this weekend with the sense that something is building behind the scenes as much as on the pitch.
Bradley Barcola is on the brink of becoming their latest marquee arrival, with a £120million agreement in place with Paris Saint‑Germain as Andoni Iraola looks for his first league win in charge.
Barcola left out again as Liverpool move nears
Liverpool face Nottingham Forest at Anfield in their first home game of the season still searching for a maiden victory after a chaotic 2-2 draw at Newcastle United. That performance exposed both promise and frailty, and Iraola knows he needs more weapons in attack.
Barcola is lined up to be exactly that.
The 21-year-old winger was again absent from PSG’s matchday squad for their Ligue 1 trip to Lille on Friday, a clear sign of where his future lies as talks between the clubs move into the final stretch. He had already been restricted to a substitute role in the UEFA Super Cup win over Aston Villa and has not featured at all in the French champions’ opening league fixtures against Lens and Rennes.
An agreement worth £120m has been reached, with only the finer details still to be ironed out. Until those are finalised, Barcola technically remains a PSG player, but the key decisions have been made: the Champions League winner has chosen his next step.
Once the deal is completed, he is expected to become Liverpool’s second-most expensive signing of all time, behind only Alexander Isak’s £125m move.
The fee reflects his impact in Paris. Last season Barcola struck 13 goals and supplied seven assists in 49 appearances across all competitions, a return that helped PSG secure back-to-back Champions League titles. He did that while constantly fighting for minutes in a star-studded forward line featuring Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue.
Now Liverpool are paying for a player proven on the biggest stage, and Iraola is closing in on a wide forward capable of stretching games, running at defenders and changing the tempo in an instant.
Wirtz handed the keys as No. 10
While one major piece of business edges closer, another story is unfolding inside the dressing room.
Florian Wirtz, who spent his first season in England shuttling between roles under Arne Slot – sometimes as an attacking midfielder, sometimes off the left – has finally been given clarity. Iraola has nailed his colours to the mast: Wirtz is his No. 10 and the creative hub of this new-look Liverpool.
Speaking to Sky Germany, the 23-year-old outlined how sharply defined his responsibilities have become under the Spaniard and lifted the lid on the style being drilled into the squad.
“He (Iraola) just wants to play power football going forward. Lots of pressing. The tasks you have are actually relatively clear,” Wirtz said.
The message is simple: intensity, front-foot aggression, and structure without confusion.
“Of course, we now have to work on making it work as a team. So not only that everyone does their job well, but that it also harmonizes together. But he definitely makes a very good impression on me.
“I think that he reaches a lot of players with it and that we as a team also understand what he wants from us. I think it's definitely a good start, that the players believe in it, and I hope that it will be successful.”
The blueprint is there. A high-pressing, “power football” Liverpool, a defined playmaker in Wirtz at No. 10, and, if the final paperwork falls into place, a Champions League‑hardened winger in Barcola arriving for a statement fee.
Forest at Anfield will offer the first real glimpse of how quickly Iraola can turn that vision into something ruthless.
