‘There is Liverpool’ – Fabrizio Romano drops important late-night transfer update

In partnership with

Empire of the Kop

·13 July 2026

‘There is Liverpool’ – Fabrizio Romano drops important late-night transfer update

Liverpool and Arsenal both continue to ‘appreciate’ Bradley Barcola this summer.

DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL EMPIRE OF THE KOP APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAY

OneFootball Videos

Fabrizio Romano reports that the Gunners are keeping an eye on the France international as they attempt to negotiate a reasonable price with Aston Villa for Morgan Rogers.

The Englishman is valued at £130m, but Mikel Arteta’s outfit appears understandably keen to lower the asking price.

Morgan Rogers could ruin Liverpool’s Bradley Barcola transfer

There is a world in which Arsenal drop their pursuit of the Villa attacker in favour of the potentially similarly priced Barcola.

“Arsenal will try to understand if there is room for negotiation [on Morgan Rogers’ price tag],” the transfer news expert spoke on his eponymous YouTube channel.

“They also appreciate Bradley Barcola, but for Barcola there is Liverpool as well, so it’s going to be an interesting summer for wingers.”

Of course, this all depends entirely on whether PSG are prepared to bend on their own internal valuation of the left-sided winger.

Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust

Reports out of the club already emphasised that Luis Enrique’s side value the footballer beyond the £116m sum Manchester City gave Nottingham Forest for Elliot Anderson.

So whatever way you cut it, Arsenal are going to have to drop some serious dough this summer to get either of their top targets.

Of course, there is a justification for the North London outfit – Bradley Barcola would surely be considered an upgrade on Gabriel Martinelli. Not to mention offering just as wide a range in positional versatility as top-choice Rogers across the forward line.

Liverpool are setting Andoni Iraola up for failure

Over the years, we’ve generally been quite pleased with the business done in summer windows.

However, we’re somewhat fearful that this effort in the market will be the latest to buck that trend, leaving new boss Andoni Iraola criminally short of options ahead of the 2026/27 season.

We can pretty much guarantee right now that the Bradley Barcola saga (yes, it is a saga) will wage on until late in the window, given France’s status as likely finalists, if not winners, at the World Cup.

And this is inspiring anxiety over the outcome late on in the window at a time when Liverpool seem to be holding off on further business to avoid financially locking themselves out of a deal with PSG.

Can we really afford a panicked search for the next cab off the rank after the 23-year-old and Yan Diomande late on in the window when everyone knows we’re desperate for wingers?

Buy the sure thing now in what looks like Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh and move on to the rest of the squad. Please.