Michael Owen advises Liverpool on £145m Bradley Barcola deal
Michael Owen believes Liverpool are in danger of being held to ransom over Bradley Barcola – and says the club should be prepared to walk away if Paris Saint-Germain refuse to climb down from their eye-watering £145m valuation.
Liverpool have turned to Barcola as they search for a long-term successor to Mohamed Salah after missing out on Yan Diomande and Michael Olise. The 21-year-old winger is understood to be open to the move and has indicated to PSG that he does not intend to extend his current deal, which runs to 2028.
That willingness has encouraged Liverpool, but the numbers have not. PSG are reported to want around £145m for the France international, while Liverpool are thought to be hoping to strike a compromise closer to £100m.
For Owen, that gap is exactly where Liverpool must be ready to draw a line.
“That sounds extortionate, doesn’t it? For someone that’s not proven in the Premier League,” he told the Liverpool Echo when asked about the £145m price tag.
“Obviously played at the highest level, but, yeah, at some point you’ve got to say no, haven’t you? If it gets to £145m, I mean, wow, that’s eye-watering.”
Owen: I’d have gone for Bowen
Owen has been consistent about what he would have done in Liverpool’s position. Before the Barcola pursuit gathered pace, he had already nailed his colours to a different mast.
“I mean, I went on record a couple of months ago saying if I was Liverpool, I’d go and try to get Jared Bowen from West Ham to replace Salah. I thought that made a lot of sense,” he said.
That door now looks closed. West Ham have no intention of losing their talisman, and Liverpool have been forced to scan a thinner market than they would like.
“But, obviously, that doesn’t look possible anymore, so they’re going to have to,” Owen admitted.
The problem runs deeper than one target. Everyone knows Liverpool need a top-tier wide forward. That knowledge inflates every negotiation.
“And the problem is everybody knows you’re desperate for a top-class player, so you’re going to have to pay through the nose. That might be just what you have to do.
“But it sounds extortionate, doesn’t it? £145 million, that’s the number that you’re saying.”
A winger shortage at Anfield
Owen also highlighted a structural issue for Liverpool: the sudden scarcity of elite wide options at a club that once overflowed with them.
“You know, it used to be Salah, and Mane and Diaz,” he said. “There’s so many great wide players [at Liverpool] over the years. And it feels like there’s a dearth of them, of course, now at Liverpool.
“They probably need two. They certainly need one.”
That assessment underlines why Liverpool have pushed so hard for Barcola. At 21, already exposed to Champions League and top-level football with PSG, he ticks many of the technical and age-profile boxes the club usually targets.
“So, yeah, I mean, they do probably need to invest heavily in that type of position. And he [Barcola] seems to be one that’s available, that’s got the quality. And it sounds like there’s no smoke without fire.
“It sounds like they’d be interested, but a lot will depend on the price, I guess.”
Liverpool’s recruitment team now stand at a familiar crossroads: pay a premium to secure a coveted talent in a thin market, or walk away and risk being left short in a season where the margin for error at the top of the Premier League will be brutally small.
