The waiting game on Barcola starts to pay off

Patience is a virtue, or so they say, and Liverpool's transfer strategy this summer appears to be built entirely on that philosophy. Bradley Barcola remains the primary target, and while no agreement has been reached, there are genuine signs that the Reds' calculated approach is bearing fruit. PSG had initially slapped a £145million valuation on the 23-year-old winger, a figure Liverpool were understandably reluctant to meet. Rather than blink first, they held firm and waited.

That patience now looks justified. The Ligue 1 champions have since brought in Maghnes Akliouche, Ferran Torres and Mika Godts through the door, easing the pressure on them to retain Barcola, and French outlet Jeunes Footeux reports that PSG have responded by lowering their asking price accordingly. Liverpool read the market correctly, and the numbers are starting to move in the right direction.

The risk, though, is real. Journalist Ben Jacobs has flagged on talkSPORT that continuing to play the waiting game deep into the final days of the window is not without danger. With the Premier League season opening against Newcastle United on Sunday, the clock is ticking, and Andoni Iraola has just four days to work with before competitive football begins in earnest. September 1 is the hard deadline, and squeezing PSG's price down to the very last moment is a bold call.

A window that still has work to do

It would be fair to say Iraola's first transfer window as Liverpool manager has been measured, to put it diplomatically. Victor Munoz and Ronald Araujo are through the door, and Jeremy Jacquet has also arrived at Anfield, though his deal was completed under the previous regime. That is a modest return for a club with serious ambitions heading into a new era, and everyone connected with the club knows Barcola would represent the kind of statement signing this summer still lacks.

The Spaniard will be confident further business can be done before the window shuts, and the softening of PSG's stance gives genuine reason for optimism. Whether Liverpool can land Barcola without overpaying, and without being caught short if the deal collapses, is the question hanging over the rest of this window. There is no permanent successor to Mohamed Salah confirmed yet, which only sharpens the stakes.

Ngumoha ready to make the right wing his own

While the Barcola saga plays out, one of the most intriguing subplots of Liverpool's summer has been quietly unfolding in pre-season. Rio Ngumoha, just 17 years old, has been logging minutes on the right flank throughout the club's pre-season fixtures and earned a starting berth there in the final friendly against Como. Should Barcola arrive and slot into his preferred position on the left, The Times suggests Ngumoha is the frontrunner to fill the void on the right that Salah's departure left behind.

That is an enormous responsibility to place on a teenager, but the early signs suggest Ngumoha is embracing it rather than being fazed by it. Iraola demands versatility from his wide players, a trait he cultivated at Bournemouth, and Ngumoha has clearly been taking that brief seriously. The youngster explained his approach in his own words: "All the coaching staff are just telling me to play my normal game really, whether that's going inside or outside. I've been working on it in training anyway, playing on the right and the left. Just being unpredictable really."

Unpredictable is exactly what a top winger needs to be, and that self-awareness at 17 is genuinely encouraging. How Iraola manages his development across what could be a demanding season will be one of the more fascinating stories to follow once the real business begins.