Inside the Barcola Decision and the €100M Solution PSG Are Watching | OneFootball

The World Cup may be raging on in North America, but PSG are busy strategizing over how best to claim a historic hat-trick of UEFA Champions League titles.

Luis Enrique’s side cemented their position as the best team in Europe little under a month ago, thanks to their nail-biting victory over Arsenal in Budapest, and the nature of that victory underscored the need for the team to evolve.

Of course, the basic principles will no doubt remain the same. The Spaniard will still demand his players execute their game style in the now trademark fashion, while the prospect of the coach being keen to work with an enlarged squad seems improbable. He wants a tight-knit group of 16-18 senior professionals supplemented by the club’s promising youngsters. Why tinker with a winning formula?

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But some change is inevitable. There are those on the periphery of the squad unhappy at their lack of game time. And who can blame them? The likes of Kang-In Lee and Goncalo Ramos have earned a status bigger than PSG are willing to give them.

Then there are other cases. Successive Champions League titles inevitably leave players wanting to be rewarded for their efforts, and when these are not commensurate with their demands, unrest can follow.

This is the position that PSG find themselves with Bradley Barcola in what promises to be perhaps the most delicate case that Luis Campos and Luis Enrique face this summer.

What’s happening with Bradley Barcola?

Agent Moussa Sissoko is seeking to drive a hard bargain in terms of Barcola’s wages, but PSG’s position is strong given the interest of several Premier League clubs.

With an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of over €70 million, Barcola retains a strong resale value for the Parisians, who only paid Lyon €45 million to sign him three years ago. Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester United are all reportedly interested in the 23-year-old.

But while Barcola is well established as a key member of the squad, he is not irreplaceable.

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