Bradley Barcola’s move to Liverpool was such an open secret by Saturday afternoon that Virgil van Dijk allowed himself to discuss the prospect of teaming up with the now-former Paris Saint-Germain winger. It was telling that the Dutch skipper hailed one specific quality Barcola would bring to Anfield: pace.
Liverpool have been chasing attacking reinforcements all summer. After a successful game of hard ball with the defending European champions, the Reds managed to haggle Barcola’s asking price down to a total package worth $166 million (£123 million), which makes him the second-most expensive Premier League player of all time, rather than the outright leader as PSG had initially wanted.
