‘He’ll adapt quicker than Florian Wirtz’ - Bradley Barcola ‘tailor-made’ for the Premier League after £123m transfer to Liverpool

Liverpool splashed out £116m ($157m) on Wirtz 12 months ago, alongside a record-breaking £125m ($169m) deal for Swedish striker Alexander Isak. The bank has been broken again in order to bring in Barcola from Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain.

They need him to hit the ground running, with inspiration from the flanks being sought following the departure of ‘Egyptian King’ Mohamed Salah. The three-time PFA Player of the Year registered 257 goals across his nine-year title-winning spell at Anfield.

Barcola, at 24 years of age, boasts enough experience - and potential - to suggest that he can fill the biggest of boots on Merseyside, while operating on the opposite side of the field. He is considered to be at his most productive when flying down the left.

The talented Frenchman has been eased into the fold by Andoni Iraola - making his bow off the bench at Ipswich before taking in 60 minutes from the start of a European clash with Atletico Madrid. The hope is that a first goal contribution will not be too far off.

Liverpool believed that Isak and Wirtz would deliver on that front, but both have struggled to meet lofty expectations. Will Barcola fare any better with a nine-figure price tag hanging around his neck?

When that question was put to Pennant, with Barcola needing to learn quickly following his arrival in English football, the ex-Reds wideman - who was speaking in association with NetBet Sport - told GOAL: “I think everyone who comes to the Prem has to adapt differently to their style.

“All the football in the European leagues are nowhere as competitive as they are in the Premier League. But if you look at Barcola's game, it kind of tailors towards the Premier League. He's quick, he's strong for his size and physique and if you've got those attributes in the Premier League, you go a long way.

“I was quick and I wasn't the strongest but it worked out. I played in the Premier League my whole life.

“I think he'll adapt quicker than Florian Wirtz because the position that Wirtz is in, he's up against the big boys in that middle of the field. That's where the hard work gets put in. On the wings, it's a little bit different. It's not as brutal as it is in the middle. The games that he's played in, Barcola, the little snippets, I thought he's done really well.”

Liverpool cannot afford to wait as long as they have done with Isak and Wirtz in order to see Barcola come good. Huge investments of faith and funds mean that he has to become a talismanic presence in the final third of the field.

It will, inevitably, take time in which to find his feet - having grown accustomed to gracing PSG and France teams that dominate opponents - but a fresh start and new challenge should be embraced, along with the weight of expectation that is being lumped onto his shoulders.

Liverpool, with back-to-back victories under their belt across domestic and continental competition, will return to Premier League action on Saturday when playing host to Fulham and the familiar face of former Reds defender Alvaro Arbeloa.