'I wanted to bring him' - Why Bayern Munich were forced to pull out of mega-money transfer for Liverpool star Bradley Barcola and Barcelona's Anthony Gordon

Bayern Munich explored summer moves for highly-rated wingers Barcola and Gordon to bolster Vincent Kompany’s squad. However, the Bundesliga outfit ultimately stepped aside due to the sheer scale of the transfer fees required to secure the pair.

Barcola instead completed a £123 million transfer to Liverpool to replace Mohamed Salah following the Egyptian's departure after a glittering nine-year spell on Merseyside. Meanwhile, Gordon left Newcastle to join Barcelona in a deal worth £69m.

Speaking to Sport Bild, Bayern sporting director Eberl detailed his personal admiration for Barcola. "To be honest, I already know Bradley from my time at Leipzig. I wanted to bring him to Leipzig," he stated.

Eberl explained that earlier talks had laid the foundation for Bayern's recent approach. "We sat down together and discussed it back then," he added. "That’s how I developed a closer relationship with Bradley. So there was always interest there. Of course, we also looked into him at Bayern."

However, the finances involved ultimately forced Bayern to walk away. Discussing Liverpool's £123m outlay, Eberl admitted: "When you hear about sums like that, it was too much for us. With Luis Diaz, we made a decision that was also costly, but on a different scale than Bradley."

The situation proved identical regarding Gordon. "It’s no secret that we were interested in Anthony Gordon for the left wing," Eberl conceded. "We decided we were not doing that because he was simply too expensive."

Liverpool identified Barcola as their priority target to fill the void left by Salah. The two-time Champions League winner with Paris Saint-Germain was eager to make the switch, allowing the Reds to fend off interest from Arsenal. The staggering fee makes the France international the second-most expensive signing in Liverpool's history, sitting just behind club-record acquisition Alexander Isak.

Conversely, the failed transfers triggered a significant reshaping of Bayern's squad. Alongside two new arrivals in Ismael Saibari and Nathaniel Brown, the Bavarians sanctioned a mass exodus to balance the books, with Joao Palhinha, Alexander Nubel, Daniel Peretz, Noel Aseko, Jonah Kusi-Asare, Maurice Krattenmacher, and Lovro Zvornarek all departing the Allianz Arena.

Barcola is already settling into life under Andoni Iraola at Anfield. After making his debut as a 60th-minute substitute for fellow new signing Victor Munoz in a 2-0 away win against Ipswich, the 24-year-old earned his first start on Wednesday night.

He showed promising flashes during Liverpool's 2-1 Champions League victory over Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid. However, the former Lyon forward was withdrawn with cramp shortly after Alexis Mac Allister netted the decisive second-half goal, meaning Iraola will need to manage the winger's fitness carefully in the coming weeks.