Bradley Barcola became Liverpool’s third £110 + million player this summer, and so far he has struggled.
It is far too early to write the Frenchman off as a complete failure, but the early signs are damning for Barcola in Merseyside.
The 24-year-old has made six appearances for the Reds, but he is yet to play a full 90 minutes and hasn’t registered a goal or an assist for his new side.
After making a £123 million move from PSG that start is worrying, but more worrying is the performance Barcola put in on Sunday when his team needed him most.
Bradley Barcola misses key Liverpool opportunity
With Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool’s three most dangerous players this season, all out injured for Sunday’s massive clash against Manchester City, Barcola had the perfect opportunity to silence his doubters this weekend.
The Frenchman failed to deliver however and put in an extremely average performance, offering next to nothing going forward.
Up against Matheus Nunes, who isn’t even a natural right-back, Barcola only managed to produce 0.05 xG (expected goals) and 0.02 xA (expected assists).
City are an extremely good side, regardless of their recent guilty verdict, but such a performance is unacceptable from the third most expensive player in Premier League history.
Liverpool chased a deal for Barcola for over a year and eventually got their man for £123 million, but the Frenchman has looked less effective going forwards than academy graduates Rio Ngumoha and Lewis Koumas.
The 24-year-old should obviously be given more time to adapt to a new league and new challenges before he is judged properly, but Iraola will no doubt be demanding more of his marquee signing.
The disappointing performances of Florian Wirtz have only compounded the issue, with many supporters feeling that the £238 million pairing represent a massive overspend.
It’s early days for Barcola at Anfield, but the Frenchman needs to start taking opportunities before too many decide he is not good enough to continue at Liverpool.