Liverpool overspent enormously in paying £123million for Bradley Barcola, according to Emmanuel Petit.
Arsenal legend Petit says he would have paid £70m as a maximum to sign his fellow Frenchman from Paris Saint-Germain.
Barcola, 24, has failed to score or assist or even create a big chance in his six appearances since joining the Reds – leading some to fear he could be another Florian Wirtz.
The winger did not play in pre-season after the World Cup due to his dragged-out transfer saga and has admitted he still needs to adjust to the Premier League’s physicality.
But 1998 World Cup winner Petit feels he was never worth so much, telling talkSPORT: ‘They splashed too much money on Barcola. I would never put £120million on the table for him. We all know that in France.
‘We all know that he is a quality player, he could be sometimes great, but he doesn’t get the regularity during the game.
Liverpool spend double what they should have done for Bradley Barcola, says Emmanuel Petit
Arsenal legend Petit claims that Paris Saint-Germain’s other players made him look better than he is (talkSPORT)
‘He was good most of the time with Paris because of the whole team behind him. I would probably spend £60-£70million maximum.
‘It’s becoming common for English clubs to spend so much money on overrated players.’
Barcola should be afforded time – he has only played 336 minutes, not even the equivalent of four full-length matches.
But pundits were left unimpressed with his ineffective performance against Manchester City on Sunday at Anfield, where Liverpool are yet to win under Andoni Iraola.
Many felt that Victor Munoz and Lewis Koumas had a greater impact than Barcola and Wirtz, with Carragher telling Sky Sports: ‘We need Barcola and we need Wirtz to step up and help Munoz and Koumas at the top of the pitch. Koumas and Munoz were better than the two £100m players.
‘That can’t be right. It’s not right. It wasn’t a decision for anyone in the stadium when Liverpool went down to 10 men. And the big bright spark was (Ryan) Gravenberch. He started badly and was taken out the team. There is no way Wirtz should be playing ahead of Gravenberch.
‘What Florian Wirtz is doing for Liverpool is not enough right now. He’s played 55, 60 games for Liverpool. If we were looking at Barcola, he has played four or five. You would want more but hold your horses. If you were critical of him, it would be over the top, but not the guy that has played 60 games.’
As a two-time Champions League winner, Barcola definitely has potential to be one of the world’s best forwards.
In the 2024-25 season he scored 23 goals and provided 20 assists in all competitions for PSG. The winger has showed what he can do with goals against Manchester City and Chelsea on Europe’s biggest stage.
He is yet to look like his price tag at Liverpool but explained to Sky Sports post-match why he has been struggling.
‘Ligue 1 is very physical. But here, I would say it’s more physical in terms of the running you have to do. The games are end-to-end,’ he said, after a match which occasionally saw him fill in at left-back.
‘The intensity is so high. But that’s also why I came here. It’s a new challenge for me to take on.’
