There are days in the transfer window when everything starts moving at once, and Thursday feels very much like one of those days. Bradley Barcola talks, an FSG admission, a teenager shifted out of position at a suspiciously convenient moment — it is all happening, and Liverpool supporters would do well to pay attention.

Let us start with the big one. Talks between Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain over a potential move for Bradley Barcola have now begun. Preliminary discussions have already taken place with the player's representatives and, encouragingly, those early signs are pointing in the right direction. The French international is valued at around £145million, which would shatter both Liverpool's transfer record and the British record in one extraordinary swoop. This is not small business.

There is one significant caveat to all of this, however. Barcola's departure from PSG is contingent on the Parisians securing a replacement of their own. That replacement, it seems, may be arriving. Fabrizio Romano is reporting that PSG's talks with Monaco over young Frenchman Maghnes Akliouche have reached the final stages. If and when that deal is done, the door opens for Barcola to leave. Which means Liverpool may need to be ready to move quickly.

Of course, a transfer of this magnitude was always going to spark debate. And one voice has already made his position very clear. Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher pushed back on the idea that Barcola is a like-for-like replacement for Mohamed Salah, who departed this summer. Responding to a Sky Sports post on the subject, Carragher wrote: "No, he plays on the opposite flank!"

He elaborated further: "LFC currently have three players who could play from the left in Rio/Gakpo/Wirtz and no one who plays from the right. Rio has always played from the left so that's obviously his best position, Gakpo should move really but who knows, I'm interested to see where Wirtz plays, if he's 10 Dom plays CM. I'm not sure about that. Need a right winger desperately!"

Carragher has a point, and it is one worth sitting with. Barcola is a left-sided player. Liverpool, as things stand, already have options on that flank. Filling the void left by Salah on the right remains the more pressing and arguably more complicated challenge. That said, squad depth and quality on the left should not be dismissed, and a player of Barcola's calibre changes the nature of any attack he plays in.

Which brings us rather neatly to the curious case of Rio Ngumoha. The 17-year-old scored the only goal as Liverpool beat Wrexham 1-0 in New York City in Andoni Iraola's second pre-season fixture. That alone is worth celebrating for a teenager still finding his feet at the highest level. But what caught the eye was where he played. Ngumoha, who has operated almost exclusively as a left-sided winger throughout his time at the club, was deployed on the right flank for the very first time under Iraola.

This came on the same day that the Barcola story broke wide open. Now, it could be nothing. Pre-season is precisely the time managers experiment and rotate. But football people rarely do things without reason, and shifting your most promising teenage winger to the opposite side of the pitch on that particular day does feel loaded with meaning. Whether Iraola is genuinely trialling Ngumoha on the right to accommodate a future left-sided arrival, or whether this is simply reading too much into a pre-season friendly, supporters will no doubt form their own views.

Elsewhere, the question of investment at Liverpool is also gathering momentum. Reports have been circulating about a potential minority stake purchase by a consortium led by Amit Bhatia and backed by the Mittal family, a deal that could value the club at over £4.5billion. Fenway Sports Group have not shied away from the topic either. Club chief executive Billy Hogan spoke to the BBC and offered a notably candid assessment.

Hogan said: "Look, John Henry and FSG have always said that if there was an interest in an investment that would help the football club, then they would consider it. That was said many years ago and that remains the case here. We've definitely not peaked. We're in a good place to continue to grow and that's why everyone across both sides of the club, football and business and whether they kick a ball or not, is focused on driving the club forward and winning trophies."

That phrase — "change is inevitable" — is the one that will linger. FSG are not closing any doors, and in the context of a potential £4.5billion valuation, the ambition signalled by fresh investment could be significant for what Liverpool are able to do in the transfer market both now and in the years ahead.

So to recap where things stand: Liverpool have signed Victor Munoz from Osasuna for £34.5million and Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes in a £60million deal sealed in January. Two arrivals, several areas still to address, and a summer that is shaping up to be one of the most consequential in recent memory. With Barcola talks now confirmed, Ngumoha being tested in a new role, and FSG signalling openness to fresh investment, the next few weeks could tell us an enormous amount about the direction this club is heading.