Liverpool ANNOUNCE Bradley Barcola transfer as he becomes second most expensive signing in Premier League history

LIVERPOOL have announced the bombshell signing of Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain. The Reds have forked out an initial £106million for the winger, and another £17m could eventually head to Paris in add-ons. Bradley Barcola is the second-most expensive Premier League signing ever at £123m Credit: Getty Images That takes the total outlay to a dizzying £123m – making Barcola the second-most expensive signing in Premier League history, behind his new £125m team-mate Alexander Isak. Liverpool now have three of the five most expensive arrivals, with Florian Wirtz costing £116m from Bayer Leverkusen last summer. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! But they will take some comfort in having knocked a fair chunk off PSG’s initial £145m asking price for Barcola. The French international is at his best on the left wing and will compete for minutes in a strong Liverpool attack. The 23-year-old, who has penned a long-term deal and taken the No29 jersey, said: “It’s a great pride to be able to play for Liverpool. I’m very happy. “It took a long time but I’m really happy today to be able to play for Liverpool and all I want is to be on the pitch and be able to play. “I hope to achieve very big things. First of all, winning the Premier League – it’s one of my biggest dreams in my life. “It is to do that and to stay in this team in the long term – that’s why I signed a long contract – and I hope I can do it. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK “I had the chance to play twice in this stadium and I saw the atmosphere and how the fans were behind the Liverpool players. “When I knew about Liverpool’s interest in me, I didn’t ask questions and I knew it was a very big club for me.” Liverpool announced the move via a series of social media posts on Monday afternoon. First was a shadowy outline of Barcola in the Anfield tunnel, then came a dramatic video montage narrated by the newcomer, in French, in which he called Liverpool his “new home”. New Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has used a combination of Cody Gakpo, Victor Munoz and Rio Ngumoha on the flanks in his first two Premier League games. Barcola’s arrival is expected to unlock Gakpo’s move to Manchester City for around £85m. The Reds had been tailing Barcola for much of the summer but explored other targets before returning to PSG with a concrete offer. Anfield chiefs saw bids knocked back for Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh and Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr as they scoured the market for reinforcements out wide. But in Barcola they have signed a back-to-back Champions League winner who scored 39 goals in 153 games for PSG after signing for £38.5m from Lyon in 2023. Liverpool will hope Barcola can hit the ground running at Ipswich on Friday night after drawing 2-2 with Newcastle and Nottingham Forest in Iraola’s first two games. Comment now