Liverpool and Barcelona Win Race for Barcola and Gordon

Bayern step aside as Liverpool and Barcelona win race for Barcola and Gordon

In another summer of heavy spending at the top of European football, Bayern Munich found themselves watching from the sidelines as two of the continent’s most coveted wide forwards slipped from their grasp.

Bradley Barcola to Liverpool for £123 million.

Anthony Gordon to Barcelona for £69m.

Two marquee moves. Two players Bayern wanted. Two deals they ultimately refused to chase.

Eberl’s long courtship of Barcola

For Max Eberl, this was not a passing fancy. Bayern’s sporting director has tracked Barcola for years, long before the Frenchman’s record-breaking move to Anfield.

"To be honest, I already know Bradley from my time at Leipzig. I wanted to bring him to Leipzig," he told Sport Bild, lifting the lid on a pursuit that started well before Bayern entered the frame.

Those early talks mattered. They built a bridge.

"We sat down together and discussed it back then," Eberl explained. "That’s how I developed a closer relationship with Bradley. So there was always interest there. Of course, we also looked into him at Bayern."

The interest was real. The admiration clear. The problem was the price.

Liverpool, searching for a successor to Mohamed Salah after the Egyptian’s glittering nine-year spell on Merseyside came to an end, made Barcola their priority. A two-time Champions League winner with Paris Saint-Germain, the winger was ready for the challenge and eager to make the move, even with Arsenal circling.

The result: a staggering £123m fee. Enough to make him the second-most expensive signing in Liverpool’s history, behind club-record arrival Alexander Isak.

For Bayern, that figure was the line in the sand.

"When you hear about sums like that, it was too much for us," Eberl admitted. "With Luis Diaz, we made a decision that was also costly, but on a different scale than Bradley."

The pressure of the market had finally gone beyond what Bayern were willing to tolerate.

Gordon interest ends the same way

The pattern repeated itself on the other flank.

"It’s no secret that we were interested in Anthony Gordon for the left wing," Eberl conceded. Bayern had identified the Newcastle forward as another high-end option for Vincent Kompany’s new-look attack.

Again, the scouting was done. Again, the profile fit.

Again, the money did not.

"We decided we were not doing that because he was simply too expensive," Eberl said. Another top-tier winger, another deal Bayern refused to stretch for, as Barcelona stepped in to complete a £69m transfer.

In a summer when English clubs and Barcelona were prepared to push their limits for elite wide players, Bayern chose a different path.

Bayern reshape instead of gambling

Missing out on Barcola and Gordon did not leave Bayern frozen. It forced a reset.

Rather than plunge deeper into a market they felt had spiralled, the German champions reshaped the squad around more measured business. Ismael Saibari and Nathaniel Brown arrived, while a significant exodus helped balance the books and clear space.

• Joao Palhinha
• Alexander Nubel
• Daniel Peretz
• Noel Aseko
• Jonah Kusi-Asare
• Maurice Krattenmacher
• Lovro Zvornarek

all departed the Allianz Arena, underlining the scale of the internal overhaul.

No blockbuster winger, but a broader structural adjustment. Bayern chose depth and financial control over one more nine-figure swing.

Barcola’s early steps at Anfield

While Bayern recalibrate, Barcola is already living the reality of that huge price tag in England.

Andoni Iraola wasted little time introducing him to Liverpool’s rhythm. The 24-year-old made his debut off the bench, replacing fellow new signing Victor Munoz on the hour mark in a 2-0 away win at Ipswich. A gentle first step in the Premier League, but a clear signal of trust.

His first start came on a bigger stage. Under the lights, in the Champions League, against Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.

Barcola didn’t dominate the game, but he didn’t shrink from it either. He showed flashes – sharp touches, direct runs, the kind of threat Liverpool paid for. The match tilted Liverpool’s way in the second half when Alexis Mac Allister struck the decisive goal in a 2-1 victory.

Shortly after that, Barcola’s night ended with cramp. A reminder that adaptation, even for a two-time Champions League winner, takes time. Iraola will have to manage his minutes carefully in the coming weeks, protecting both the player and the club’s enormous investment.

Liverpool, though, have their Salah heir in place. Barcelona have added Gordon to a growing core of young attacking talent. Bayern, by contrast, walk away from the table convinced they refused to be dragged into a financial arms race.

Soon enough, the question will no longer be about the fees. It will be about whether Bayern’s restraint can stand up to the firepower they chose not to buy.