The Barcola saga reaches its conclusion, almost

Months of negotiations, a summer of speculation, and more than a few false dawns, but it appears Liverpool are finally on the brink of landing Bradley Barcola. The two clubs agreed a fee on Thursday 28 August, with a guaranteed £100m and up to £20m in add-ons, which would make the 23-year-old winger Liverpool's second most expensive signing of all time, behind only the £125m spent on Alexander Isak last summer. French outlet L'Equipe reported that Barcola was expected to arrive in Liverpool on Friday 29 August to settle the final details, undergo his medical and put pen to paper.

It has been a long road to get here. Liverpool missed out on their primary target at the start of the summer in Yan Diomande, and the pursuit of Barcola has dragged on ever since, with Paris Saint-Germain initially holding firm at a figure well beyond Liverpool's comfort zone. Their original asking price sat at a staggering £145m before the two parties eventually found common ground. The timing is tight, the window closes on Tuesday night, but if this lands, Liverpool fans will feel the wait was worth it. Replacing at least some of what Mohamed Salah brought from wide positions has been the mission all summer, and Barcola would represent a serious answer to that question.

How Mbaye ended up at Villa, and what it says about Liverpool's approach

While the Barcola story was building to its climax, another winger target quietly slipped away. Ibrahim Mbaye, the 18-year-old Senegalese international who had attracted genuine interest from Liverpool earlier in the window, is now set to join Aston Villa instead. David Ornstein reported for The Athletic that Villa had reached an agreement in principle with Paris Saint-Germain for the teenager at a fee of around €55m, a figure that will sting Liverpool supporters given the Reds had reportedly been willing to go to approximately €50m, only to baulk when PSG's asking price reached €70m.

As recently as Thursday, Senegalese journalist Khadim Diakhate of D Sport was suggesting a last-minute Liverpool bid could not be ruled out, noting that Bundesliga options were considered less appealing to the player's camp than the prospect of Anfield. Villa clearly moved faster and more decisively. The ECHO had previously noted that Mbaye was just one name on a longer list, and that has been borne out by two further late approaches: bids of £50m and £60m for Brighton's Yankuba Minteh, both rejected, and a £50m offer turned down by Crystal Palace for Ismaila Sarr.

Brighton's Minteh: the door is open, just about

Of those remaining options, Minteh looks the most live. Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler was asked directly about Liverpool's interest and stopped well short of closing the door. "Can I control everything? No, I can't control everything," he said. "Let's see, let's see [if we can keep him]. From my perspective, Minteh, he's a Brighton player, he needs to commit to this club. Because he knows that these rumours only come because he benefits from everything here. From how he's been worked with, how he's been protected from everyone, how he's been developed."

Hurzeler went on to add: "So I think that's also important for him. Then in the end, we all know, everyone knows, how the football business works. Let's see the ideas from Liverpool. We have a clear idea how we want to go forward, but we have a lot of things in our hands regarding this player. But in the end, there's Tony [Bloom, owner], there's Paul [Barber, CEO], together with them we try to make the right decision." That reference to how football business works is doing a lot of heavy lifting, and it is hard to read it as a firm no. Brighton fans will understand the implication.

Three days left and the clock is ticking

What is undeniable is that Liverpool's approach to the final stretch of this window has been frantic. Bids flying in multiple directions, targets pursued and lost, fees agreed and rejected, it is not exactly the picture of a club operating with calm, surgical precision. Whether that reflects genuine ambition or a scramble born of necessity is a fair question. The Sarr approach, in particular, raised eyebrows given Liverpool looked at and opted against him five years ago when he was considerably younger.

Still, if Barcola crosses the finishing line and Minteh follows him through the door before Tuesday night, the chaos of the last few weeks will be quickly forgotten. Liverpool need a right winger, they know it, and with three days left on the clock, the next 72 hours will tell us exactly what kind of window this has really been.