Liverpool Bidik Bradley Barcola dan Haissem Hassan untuk Gantikan Salah

Klub raksasa Inggris, Liverpool, dilaporkan tengah aktif mencari penyerang sayap baru untuk menggantikan posisi Mohamed Salah yang akan hengkang pada bursa transfer Juli 2026. Berdasarkan laporan TEAMtalk dan Liverpool Echo, klub yang kini ditangani oleh Andoni Iraola tersebut mengincar bintang Paris Saint-Germain, Bradley Barcola, serta pemain Real Oviedo, Haissem Hassan.

Upaya Liverpool untuk mendatangkan Barcola menemui jalan terjal karena Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) dikabarkan mematok harga fantastis sebesar 128 juta poundsterling untuk pemain timnas Prancis tersebut. Meskipun Arsenal sempat ikut memantau situasi dan klub Arab Saudi, Al Ahli, mengajukan tawaran senilai 205 juta dolar AS, PSG belakangan dilaporkan berubah pikiran dan menegaskan bahwa Barcola tidak akan dijual.

Mantan pemain Premier League, Emile Heskey, menilai bahwa perekrutan penyerang sayap berusia 23 tahun tersebut akan menjadi langkah luar biasa bagi armada Merseyside Merah.

"Signing Bradley Barcola would be an amazing coup for Liverpool because he provides the pace and directness we've been missing on the left wing. We've been spoiled with Sadio Mané and Luis Díaz, and now we need Barcola to get the fans off their seats again. Liverpool looked to have missed out on Yan Diomande to PSG, but that could open the door to Barcola leaving. It would be a statement signing for Andoni Iraola that's for sure." ujar Emile Heskey, mantan penyerang Liverpool.

Penilaian senada juga diutarakan oleh Louis Saha yang mengagumi perkembangan pesat sang pemain muda selama beberapa musim terakhir bersama skuad asuhan Luis Enrique.

"Bradley Barcola is a terrific player. He has already won two Champions Leagues, and he could even win the World Cup over the next few weeks, his achievements for such a young player are staggering. He has become a much-improved player over the past few seasons, he gets better and better every year, and he can go right to the very top of football.

What Barcola needs is to move somewhere where he is going to be first choice in his position week in, week out. His confidence will improve ten-fold once that happens, and then he will be a way more dangerous player. He has enormous potential, and I'm not surprised Liverpool are looking at him.

They need a replacement for Mohamed Salah, and Cody Gakpo has looked uncomfortable at times for them out wide. Barcola could easily fill either of those positions." kata Louis Saha, mantan penyerang timnas Prancis.

Di sisi lain, pengamat sepak bola Danny Murphy meragukan kecocokan Barcola di Anfield karena posisi alaminya yang lebih sering beroperasi di sektor sayap kiri.

"The only thing with Barcola, of course, is he’s more comfortable on the left than the right. He can play on the right on occasion, but really I think someone more used to and suited playing on the right would probably be a better option. It’s certainly interesting and fascinating to see what they’re going to do because the squad needs a bit of reshaping. There are all these questions around Liverpool at the moment, which is, when you think about winning the league and then what we spent, it’s an incredible conundrum that they’re in really and shouldn’t be in." tutur Danny Murphy, mantan gelandang Liverpool.

Sebagai alternatif, Liverpool kini juga memantau situasi pemain Real Oviedo, Haissem Hassan, yang tampil mengesankan bersama timnas Mesir di Piala Dunia. Manajemen Liverpool dikabarkan sedang berupaya menegosiasikan kesepakatan transfer untuk Hassan dengan nilai di bawah klausul pelepasannya yang mencapai 14 juta dolar AS.