"It's almost been like Liverpool were Real Madrid" — Jamie Carragher didn't bury that line. And he's not wrong to say it.
Liverpool spent €264 million this summer, brought in Bradley Barcola for €125 million on deadline day, and still don't have a natural right winger to replace Mo Salah. That's the transfer window in one sentence. The Egyptian left. The position he vacated remains empty. The money went elsewhere.
Four left wingers, zero right wingers
Barcola joins Victor Munoz, Cody Gakpo, and Rio Ngumoha in what is now a deeply lopsided attacking setup. Carragher put it plainly: "I sit there scratching my head and thinking: 'we've got four left wingers, we haven't got one right winger.'" When your former club captain is publicly baffled by the squad construction, something has gone wrong in the planning room.
The Barcola deal is the one generating most of the noise. At 24, he was largely a substitute at PSG under Luis Enrique, though his numbers were impressive given the limited minutes. The talent is real. But buying the most expensive name available without addressing the most obvious gap is exactly the kind of move Carragher associates with a different kind of club.
"Real Madrid always make it work. That's the nature of that football club," he said. "But Liverpool's always been about the team." The implication is clear — Liverpool don't have Real Madrid's infrastructure for absorbing star-driven chaos. Their identity has always been built on cohesion, pressing systems, collective energy. Throwing four left-sided attackers at a new manager and hoping it clicks isn't that.
A title challenge that few believe in
Liverpool finished fifth last season, sacked Arne Slot, and lost Salah — then spent a quarter of a billion euros without solving the problem that mattered most. Carragher didn't try to spin it: "I don't think anybody inside Liverpool or Liverpool supporters really believe we can win the league this season."
That admission should concern anyone backing Liverpool in the title market. The squad is unbalanced, the new manager is inheriting a rebuild mid-flight, and the right flank — the one Salah terrorised defences from for years — is still a question mark. Whatever excitement Barcola generates, Liverpool's title odds look shaky until there's evidence this group can actually function as a unit.
