PSG making it increasingly clear these two are surplus to requirements

Paris Saint-Germain have sent another strong signal that Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye have no future at the club this summer, leaving both players out of their Ligue 1 opener against Rennes on Sunday evening. It follows their absence from last weekend's French Super Cup defeat to Lens, and the pattern is becoming impossible to ignore. When a club drops the same players from two consecutive squads, the message isn't subtle.

The reason for the squeeze is no mystery. PSG have moved quickly to reshape their wide options, bringing in Mika Godts from Ajax and Ferran Torres from Barcelona during the current window. Luis Enrique now has an embarrassment of attacking riches, and somebody has to make way. Right now, that somebody appears to be the pair most heavily linked with a move to Anfield.

The money is the problem, and everyone knows it

PSG's desire to sell doesn't automatically make this straightforward. The Parisian club are reportedly demanding a combined €204 million, which converts to roughly £175m, for the two players. Barcola alone carries a £130m price tag, though French media reports have suggested a figure somewhere between £111m and £128m could actually get a deal over the line. That gap between demand and reality is where transfer negotiations live, and right now Liverpool are sitting somewhere inside it.

Mbaye represents the more accessible end of the package. The 18-year-old is valued at between £30m and £45m, and reports from France have claimed Liverpool have already reached an agreement with the teenager on personal terms, including a five-year contract. If that is accurate, the club side of the deal is the only remaining obstacle. For a player of his age and potential, that fee feels manageable in the context of what the Reds are trying to build.

Barcola is a different proposition financially, but his numbers make the interest understandable. The winger contributed 13 goals and seven assists across all competitions last season as PSG swept to the Ligue 1 title and the Champions League. He is understood to be keen on the move himself, which matters. A player pushing for the exit at one end and the destination at the other is a transfer that tends to find a way.

Iraola has been honest: Liverpool need wingers, and they need them now

New Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola has been refreshingly direct about the squad's current limitations, and his words carry particular weight given the context. "In terms of what we need, there are certain situations that, for me, are clear, especially on the wing because we do not have enough players able to play in those positions," he said recently.

He was careful not to reduce it to a shopping list exercise, adding: "It is not about signing a player because we need someone in a particular position. No. It is about improving the squad. We have very good players already here, so to improve, you need a specific level of player." That last line is the key one. Iraola isn't looking for bodies to fill a gap left by Mohamed Salah's departure. He is looking for quality that shifts the ceiling of this squad upward, and both Barcola and Mbaye, in different ways, could do exactly that.

With PSG's squad selections doing Liverpool's negotiating for them, the momentum in this story is clearly building. Whether the price comes down far enough to make both deals possible remains the question every Red wants answered.