New Liverpool executive involvement in Barcola maybe sign of things to come | OneFootball

Bradley Barcola Deal Offers Major Clue Over Bhatia and Liverpool Investors

Bradley Barcola’s arrival at Liverpool was already one of the defining deals of the transfer window. Yet the involvement of Amit Bhatia has added another dimension to the story, with questions now surrounding what his role might indicate about Liverpool’s investors and the club’s future ownership.

Speaking to Dave Davis on Anfield Index’s Media Matters podcast, Liverpool reporter David Lynch described Bhatia’s involvement in the Barcola transfer as “really interesting”.

For Lynch, its significance potentially extends beyond Liverpool securing one of their major attacking targets.

Bhatia Involvement Catches Lynch’s Attention

Discussing reports that Bhatia played a role in completing the Barcola deal, Lynch immediately connected the development to Liverpool’s evolving ownership situation.

“I guess again it kind of tells you really that, you know, the direction I think that ownership move is going in,” Lynch told Davis.

Lynch suggested Bhatia may have been learning more about how Liverpool operate at the highest level of the transfer market.

“Maybe, you know, it’s almost like shadowing a little bit of Mike Gordon to kind of see exactly how, you know, it might work.”

Bhatia’s previous experience in football was also highlighted.

“He knows how football works,” Lynch said. “But I mean, we are talking about a crazy level, aren’t we? Of kind of, you know, the deals, the biggest deals you could do in football.”

Barcola certainly falls into that category. Liverpool have added a player Lynch has previously described as an “incredibly exciting signing”, with the France international strengthening Iraola’s attacking options.

Liverpool Investors Could Assume Greater Influence

Bhatia’s participation becomes particularly intriguing when placed alongside Lynch’s expectations for what could eventually happen at Liverpool.

“These responsibilities ultimately, if this does go the way we expect, are probably going to fall to him,” Lynch said.

“He’s going to be that Mike Gordon figure in the future.”

That is a significant observation. Lynch sees Bhatia being hands on during the Barcola negotiations as potentially valuable experience ahead of assuming greater responsibility.

“Probably best to kind of see and be hands on in that moment.”

Liverpool’s ownership situation has already been a major subject on Media Matters, with Lynch previously discussing the prospect of significant changes involving FSG and incoming investors.

January Could Provide Another Bhatia Clue

Attention will inevitably turn towards the January transfer window and whether Bhatia becomes increasingly visible around Liverpool’s recruitment operation.

“If they do any business in the January transfer window, then that’s going to be, you know, a big kind of thing where Bhatia will be even more involved,” Lynch said.

Liverpool will also have a new sporting director by that stage, according to the discussion, potentially creating another change within the club’s football operation.

Lynch stopped short of claiming an ownership transition was guaranteed, stressing that the mechanism might exist without necessarily being used.

“Only they can know that at the moment. I’m not, you know, that mechanism is there, whether they exploit it or not, I haven’t got a clue.”

Yet Bhatia’s participation in one of Liverpool’s biggest transfers was enough to attract Lynch’s attention.

“I thought it’s really, really interesting that he was so heavily involved in that.”

Barcola may therefore represent more than a major addition for Iraola. His transfer has provided another fascinating glimpse into the people increasingly operating around Liverpool’s biggest decisions, with Bhatia’s involvement now something worth watching as the club moves towards January.