Liverpool are closing on Bradley Barcola at a fee that can reach £123 million. The Paris Saint-Germain winger's talent is not the dispute. The dispute is whether Andoni Iraola's side are buying the player they actually need.

Sky Sports News reporter Vinny O'Connor reported that the clubs had settled on £106 million up front, potentially rising to £123 million, with a contract through 2031 still subject to a medical this weekend. Documents have not yet been exchanged. BBC Sport said Barcola became the priority after Yan Diomande chose Real Madrid earlier in the window.

Two draws, one left-sided specialist

The timing is awkward. Liverpool have taken two points from two league games, drawing 2-2 at Newcastle and 2-2 with Nottingham Forest, and looked short in both. That is the hole a £123 million winger is supposed to fill. Jamie Carragher is not convinced it is the right hole.

"He's a left winger for me," Carragher said on Sky Sports. "They don't have anyone who looks comfortable playing on the right but they have four players in the squad before Barcola joins who can play off the left."

"In terms of balance of the squad, it's not the position Liverpool need."

Cody Gakpo already works that left side. BBC Sport reported Tottenham and Manchester City interest in the Dutchman if Barcola arrives. Barcola is 23, right-footed, and has spent almost all of his Champions League minutes at PSG on the left. Liverpool would be paying their second-highest fee ever — behind only Alexander Isak's £125 million — for a player who wants the same strip of grass.

Speed is not the same as balance

The on-ball case is real. BBC Sport, citing Opta, said Barcola was the only player across Europe's top five leagues to average more than two shot-ending carries per 90 last season. Julien Laurens, on ESPN FC, called it a good move for Barcola and said Liverpool badly need his "pace and skills and movement." He would not underwrite the Premier League step. "He will have to make that step up," Laurens said. "And that's not guaranteed either."

A fee of this size makes him a centrepiece of Iraola's rebuild, not a garnish. Liverpool would be buying acceleration and direct running after Mohamed Salah left. They would also be adding another forward who wants the game played at a sprint, while the full-backs have been the ones getting isolated.

Barcola can make an already volatile attack look frightening. He cannot, by himself, make it harder to play through. That job is still on Iraola, and the window has not shut.