LFC News: Barcola Medical Date, Elliott Talks & Camara 'Offered'

Reports from France suggest Bradley Barcola will travel to complete his move on Saturday, while the latest news also brings links to Lamine Camara and Harvey Elliott exit talks.

LFC News Round Up

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Bradley Barcola expected to fly for medical on Saturday

Liverpool agreed a deal in principle with Paris Saint-Germain for Barcola on Thursday, with the Reds to pay an initial £100 million, plus a further £20 million in add-ons.

He has not been named in PSG‘s squad for their match at Lille on Friday night, with French outlet L’Equipe reporting he is “expected to fly to England this Saturday.”

The 23-year-old needs to complete a medical before his transfer is formalised, meaning the earliest Liverpool fans can expect to see him is at Ipswich next Friday.

There remains the hope and expectation that he will not be the only incoming between now and Tuesday’s deadline, but as we all know, it’s the hope that kills you!

Transfer latest: Valencia’s Elliott interest & Camara ‘offered’ to LFC

With transfer news moving at pace, at the time of writing, this is what we know:

• Valencia have made contact for Harvey Elliott, with further interest from Napoli and Lazio, This Is Anfield understands.

• Monaco’s Lamine Camara has been “offered” to Liverpool and Chelsea. He would be a tidy option for the Reds! (Ben Jacobs)

• With that in mind, Alexis Mac Allister has reportedly been offered to Man City by intermediaries as an alternative to Enzo Fernandez. That would shake up the midfield market and make Liverpool act.

• Aston Villa have agreed a deal in principle for LFC target Ibrahim Mbaye worth €55 million (£47m). Will be interesting to see if Liverpool swoop back in for the same deal now that a fee has been settled (The Athletic, David Ornstein)

• Liverpool’s pursuit of Yankuba Minteh is “not fully off,” according to Foday Manneh – who originally broke news of the Reds’ interest – as finding other options is proving “difficult.”

LFC News: New vice-chairman to make Anfield appearance & Josh Abe surgery

• New Liverpool vice-chairman Amit Bhatia will be at Anfield on Saturday alongside owner John Henry, and he’s made a good first impression by insisting he arrives as a “fan first”

• Highly-rated teenager Josh Abe has undergone shoulder surgery to halt his breakthrough after featuring for the first team in pre-season. It’s unclear how long he’ll be sidelined

• Amid strong links to Cody Gakpo, Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi told reporters: “I think we can do one player more and in one specific position.” Don’t expect anything until LFC make their moves, though

• Amid all the transfer speculation, there is a match to be played early on Saturday! You can check out our preview here, and our predicted XI vs. Nottingham Forest here!

Football News: Salah to play in Conference League & Martinez to finally leave Villa

• Mo Salah‘s new club, Trabzonspor, have rejected the resignation of their head coach after he dramatically resigned following a dismal attempt to qualify for the Europa League – it’s Conference League action for Mo this season…

• Unai Emery says Ollie Watkins apologised for refusing to play for Aston Villa while he pushed for an exit. He is due to complete a £51m move to Al-Hilal (seems like a waste)

• Emiliano Martinez is undergoing his medical ahead of joining Chelsea – that was a longer-than-expected goodbye to Aston Villa, wasn’t it? (Fabrizio Romano)

• Club Brugge defender Joel Ordonez‘s move to Crystal Palace is in doubt after complications during his medical, with his foot injury “worse than originally believed.” At least it’s not because the club chief was at the gym… (BBC Sport)

Liverpool FC: On this day

On this day in 1994, Anfield provided the backdrop as Robbie Fowler etched his name into the record books with what was then the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history.

A 19-year-old Fowler was just starting his second season as a regular member of Roy Evans’ Liverpool side when Arsenal made the trip to Merseyside in the first game after the Kop became an all-seater.

In just four minutes and 33 seconds, he tore apart one of English football’s most revered defences, laying claim to the division’s fastest-ever hat-trick, a record which stood for almost 21 years.

Future Liverpool winger Sadio Mane, then at Southampton, eclipsed Fowler’s record in May 2015, accomplishing the feat in a staggering two minutes and 56 seconds against Aston Villa.

Will we see anything like it again?