13 Feb 2026 12:46:07
Barcola is a much better player than Matheus Mane.
Kerkez and Mane on our left side would be equal to two headless chickens on the same flank?
Barcola is doable means another big summer of investment from FSG but that's also very possible.
13 Feb 2026 13:03:31
We are talking telephone numbers, better spent elsewhere or on several positions.
13 Feb 2026 13:26:37
Not convinced on Barcola for the money he'd cost.
13 Feb 2026 14:54:48
I personally think any winger we sign needs to have some real pace about them. I can't recall Barcola being particularly quick; he is more a ball-into-feet, dribble-type of player. We need someone to stretch the opposition when needed and be an outlet in behind, using their pace to disrupt the opposition. Pace is paramount. Having watched Gakpo and Salah this season, the lack of pace has been a very real Achilles heel.
It would also help Wirtz, who operates so much better with pacy players ahead of him. More often than not, Wirtz does not play the offensive pass because of a lack of movement ahead. Eki is the only real player willing to run in behind, and Wirtz instead keeps the ball moving, waiting for his next opportunity, rinse and repeat more often than not.
13 Feb 2026 14:15:20
I would rather sign Mane than Barcola personally.
I just think Mane would go on to be a superstar for us, whereas my gut says Barcola would flop. He's a young French player who's playing for his local team and the best team in his homeland. Every possible move for him except probably Real Madrid would be seen by him as a backwards step, even if he wouldn't outwardly admit that. You have to have the right mentality to be able to take a backwards step and not let it dent your motivation. I don't know much about him personally but he comes across as a bit of a fragile ego. I may be way off the mark with that though.
Mane on the other hand would be making the move of a lifetime if he left Wolves to come to us. Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal or United are the four dream clubs for most young English players and I'd hazard a guess that courtesy of his namesake, Sadio, Mateus Mane might well have already imagined himself at Liverpool one day.
I guess what I'm saying is I think Mane will give everything to succeed for us but I'd be worried about how Barcola will react to being perceived as surplus to requirements at PSG. On paper Barcola is clearly the better player right now and I'd just be talking rubbish if I tried to deny that. I just don't think it's the right move for us. Who would've guessed that Daniel Sturridge and Phillipe Coutinho would be better for us than Fernando Morientes and Jari Litmanen? Mane just feels like a Liverpool signing. Barcola doesn't, to me.
13 Feb 2026 15:39:08
I've seen quite a bit of Mane, he's athletic and has plenty of energy, but that's as far as I'd go right now. He's not as good as some are making him out to be, but he is only a young lad, and for a young lad he is promising.
Personally, I don't see the point. I think it'd be a big gamble, depending on the price tag, which I assume would be on the higher end. I wouldn't want Barcola either, I agree with Mango.
13 Feb 2026 16:33:23
Well, the posters banging the drum for Nunez all season have just had a great fillip. He has been axed from the Saudi squad he just joined at Al-Hilal. Benzema is his more than adequate replacement, and, perhaps most pleasingly, his replacement is also More Salad, who has 4 PL goals this season and six assists from 18 apps. Not hard to see who has not been pulling his weight. Regarding Diaz having to seek higher wages by going to Bayern, and Cody Gak-poor all season, you would have thought Slot, instead of offering a two-year contract for More Salad at circa 50 million, would have been more cautious, knowing full well he would be playing the AFCON and will do his utmost to avoid injury ahead of the World Cup, with a half a billion deal with a Saudi league club potentially pending. (Also, if he goes this summer, LFC will have to pay his remaining contract for next year at circa 25 million).
Diaz could have played RW all season, and Salah should have been sold last summer for 100 million, with part of his wages going towards Diaz staying. A top, top-notch manager would have spotted this in the making last summer. I note from reading Alex Ferguson's book that he had a "concrete agreement" in place to join Spurs in 1986, but he reneged for Man United instead. History tells me personally that Spurs would be absolute fools to not offer their current job to Amorim, and LFC, sadly, would be ideal for him. Can I also leave the Alonso bandwagoners and advocates with this thought: Alonso has already turned LFC down once for the RM job, hence Slot getting the nod at the time. That tells me Amorim is ideal for LFC next season, hopefully!
13 Feb 2026 16:44:46
I don't think any of us saw how drastic a tail off we'd see in Salah's form. Not even Mystic Meg.
13 Feb 2026 16:54:36
Salah was on a free last summer.
13 Feb 2026 16:54:42
007, how many have you had today?
13 Feb 2026 17:13:24
Gotta feel a bit for Darwin. He went from an 85 mill transfer gamble to no European club willing to take a gamble at 50 mill in the summer. The fact that he's only lasted 5 months in Saudi leaves him at a career crossroads. How much will a club need to pay to take the next gamble on him, I wonder.
13 Feb 2026 18:54:12
We could have had prime Messi, Suarez and Neymar, 007, and Slot's abysmal tactics would have made them look redundant. This pining after Diaz is comedy gold. He's better than Gakpo, but let's not pretend he was mostly flair with intermittent end products.
13 Feb 2026 22:37:52
Pretty sure prime Messi, Suarez, and Neymar would be just fine under Slot, Frode.
13 Feb 2026 23:01:36
Slot would play Messi in goal, Neymar at RB, and leave Suarez on the bench.
14 Feb 2026 00:02:03
On second thoughts, they'd probably struggle for game time ahead of Gakpo, Chiesa, Rio, and this season's Salah. It is up there with the best squads we've ever had, after all.
14 Feb 2026 02:58:36
Not saying Barcola is the guy, but he's already at PSG and doing his thing. So, personally, I'd like us to be unearthing the next Barcola, so to speak. These massive transfer fees are such a high risk with no increased guarantee of any positive outcome.
14 Feb 2026 08:02:32
Florian, would they? They wouldn't get the ball, because we'd play it around the back for an hour. I actually think Florian is Gakpo.
14 Feb 2026 12:02:11
Florian, I agree. I don't rate Barcola, esp. with the fee PSG would want. Nope, I'll pass. As for Mane, he is just a kid doing well in a dead team, hence just playing with no pressure. I seem to remember a certain Stefan Bajcetic doing the exact same thing with us in that dreadful 22/23 season.
We know what has happened since, hence I would be wary of making such signings under such circumstances.