PSG and Liverpool Far Apart on €170m Deal, Reds Threaten to Walk Away

Talks between PSG and Liverpool over the transfer of Bradley Barcola have begun, but they are getting off to a very bad start. The Reds have reportedly not even made an initial bid, according to several sources.

Liverpool want Barcola, 23, and the player wants to play at Anfield. In that sense, things are simple, but there is a third party to satisfy, and that makes it very complicated. Strong in their position as back-to-back European champions, PSG fully intend to bring in €170 million for their France international, who is still young and has two years left on his contract.

That is an amount the Reds do not plan to pay, having spent very big last summer on several players and not really getting value for their money. As a result, while a first bid of €115 million was said to have been made on Friday, other reports in French media are telling a very different story.

Canal+ and Le Parisien say that, contrary to what L'Equipe reported, Liverpool have not yet made their first offer to PSG. The English club are first trying to talk with the Paris side to make their position clear and avoid making an offer that would be considered disrespectful.

According to Canal+ and Le Parisien, not only has the first bid still not been made, but the Premier League club have also explained that they could never get close to the €160 million to €170 million PSG are asking. If Paris stick to that demand, considered crazy, then the Reds are threatening not to even enter negotiations and to walk away from the deal.

It is a risky game because, even if there is clearly a strong element of bluffing, PSG would risk keeping Barcola, who already sees himself on the banks of the Mersey at the end of the summer.

But Liverpool's little game, as a club now presenting itself as not having the means to match its ambitions, is bound to annoy people in Paris. It is worth remembering that the Reds spent €410 million just to sign four players last summer (Kerkez, Ekitike, Wirtz and Isak), without getting any results on the pitch in the end.

It is hard to imagine PSG rejecting a bid for around €140-150m, but apparently Liverpool have not offered something similar yet. So it might just be a matter of time. Let's wait and see.

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