For a talent of his stature, football fans do not get to see enough of Bradley Barcola.
The 23-year-old forward would walk into most starting line-ups, but faces fierce competition for minutes at Paris Saint-Germain and with the French national team, possibly the most talented club and country pairing in world football.
Those fights for selection have reduced him to something of a squad player: he started only half of France’s eight World Cup games, and just four of PSG’s nine knockout matches en route to retaining the UEFA Champions League last season.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported in late June that Barcola appeared reluctant to sign a new contract while getting less game time than he would like. And, as also reported by The Athletic, Liverpool and Arsenal are among the clubs with Barcola on their radars. PSG are under no pressure to sell, though, and value him at more than £100million ($134m).
That is a huge figure, but in a transfer market undergoing rapid inflation, it could actually be a coup if it means landing one of the most exciting young talents around.
Here, The Athletic looks at why he is so in demand.
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Jon Mackenzie
Barcola is blessed with a broad range of attacking qualities, but it is his blistering pace that is most striking.
According to tracking data provider SkillCorner, Barcola ranked fourth across Europe’s top five leagues for ‘Peak Sprint Velocity’ last season, which measures the 99th percentile of his physical activities above 15km/h, clocking 32.7km/h.
When Barcola turns on the burners, there is little stopping him — as Arsenal found out in the 96th minute of the Champions League final in May, when he burst through to create a huge chance to win the game, only to skew his shot wide.
This is how Barcola typically channels his explosive speed. His SkillCorner run profile shows that the majority of his off-ball movement comes in the form of direct runs in behind.
Get the pass to him right, and he is virtually guaranteed a one-v-one opportunity.
As a right-footed left-winger, Barcola likes to bend these runs from outside to in, so carrying him both towards goal and onto his stronger foot. He particularly likes to attack through balls slipped between centre-back and full-back, darting in from the latter’s blindside.
By the time the opposition’s right-back has spotted the danger and orientated himself, Barcola is already disappearing into the distance.
It was this exact movement that led to his goal in Saturday’s World Cup third-place play-off against England, while the other example below comes from his strike in PSG’s 3-0 Ligue 1 defeat of Le Havre last November.
On the ball, Barcola’s speed makes him a natural dribbler, completing 1.85 take-ons per game, the 12th-highest figure in France’s top flight last season. But with a dribble success rate of just 36.7 per cent, the third-lowest among the division’s top 20, there is plenty of room for refinement.
Barcola’s dribbling leans heavily on his explosive acceleration, unbalancing defenders with abrupt changes of pace, while weaving in sudden chops and dragbacks. But that style of direct dribbling requires space for you to attack, which becomes harder up against deep-lying defences, where tighter touches and more subtle footwork are required.
Below is an example from France’s 3-0 World Cup group-stage win against Iraq, where, after initially darting past the full-back, Barcola takes a heavy second touch and runs out of room, unable to prevent the ball from crossing the byline.
With his preference for wide, open spaces, Barcola would probably be a better fit at Liverpool than with Arsenal.
Liverpool were the Premier League’s most counter-attacking side last season, launching 128 direct attacks, more than any other team. That transitional style is set to only intensify under their new head coach Andoni Iraola, who became known for the relentless, hard-running, end-to-end football he implemented over the prior three years as Bournemouth boss.
The position is a clear priority for Iraola, too. “We definitely need to sign a winger,” he said at a press conference in Chicago on Tuesday at the start of Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the United States.
Last season under Arne Slot, it was Cody Gakpo who operated from the left for Liverpool. Gakpo’s tendency to cut inside and curl shots towards the far corner is well established, a trait mirrored by Barcola, whose shot map is clustered in similar areas. Barcola scored 0.57 goals per 90 minutes in Ligue 1 last season, roughly double Gakpo’s Premier League rate, albeit he was facing a much more forgiving level of competition.
Barcola takes 4.5 shots for every 100 touches, which made him the most proactive shooter in PSG’s squad last season. This willingness to make things happen is why, despite his more natural fit at Liverpool, he would be a very welcome addition at Arsenal too.
Mikel Arteta’s side were the dominant force in the 2025-26 Premier League, securing a well-earned title. But they could sometimes struggle for inspiration in open play, something they compensated for with their set-piece prowess.
As well as being quick to pull the trigger himself, Barcola is a creator for others, with no player attempting line-breaking passes more frequently than him during the World Cup.
Arsenal have already moved to replace the departed Leandro Trossard on the left of attack, reaching a €40million (£34m) agreement with Club Brugge for talented Greek winger Christos Tzolis. Having played the past two seasons in the Belgian league, the 24-year-old remains more of an unknown quantity as he returns to the English game after a previous spell with Norwich City five years ago and has yet to perform at the same level as back-to-back Champions League winner and three-in-a-row Ligue 1 champion Barcola.
Barcola remains close to becoming a regular feature in PSG’s frightening attack. But the career of a footballer is short and unforgiving, and plenty have seen precious years slip away while waiting in the wings.
Arsenal and Liverpool would jump at the chance to give this star an immediate chance to take centre stage.
