Jamie Carragher, the former Liverpool defender, has claimed that Arsenal made a critical error by failing to make Bradley Barcola their top transfer target once it was evident they wouldn't be signing Vinicius or Julian Alvarez.
Arsenal showed interest in Barcola at the beginning of the summer but then opted to explore other options. In the end, the 24-year-old Frenchman moved from PSG to Liverpool for a hefty £123 million.
In Carragher's own words:
I’m glad it didn’t happen, but I was following the situation with Barcola closely. It always struck me that the left flank was a position where Arsenal's deficiency was particularly apparent compared to Bukayo Saka, Odegaard, and Havertz, who all tend to drift more to the right.
The young player had a decent start. However, as the saga dragged on with Barcola, and when it became clear that Arsenal would not land either Vinicius or Alvarez, I wondered: wasn’t Barcola exactly the kind of player they needed to sign?
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright echoed Carragher's opinion, stating that the team required a player capable of immediately becoming one of the attacking line's main stars.
Wright remarked:
That’s exactly the type of player Arsenal should have signed. He came from a fantastic team in PSG, playing alongside top-level footballers. Now he’s moving to Liverpool as a super talent and can elevate the performance of his teammates.
That’s what we needed. I would have been happy with Morgan Rogers, but Barcola was available.
Following their inability to secure Vinicius, who decided to stay with Real Madrid, and Alvarez, who appeared set for a move to Barcelona, Arsenal had been searching for reinforcements on the left wing.
