Bradley Barcola has been on Liverpool’s radar for a while now as they try to find a suitable replacement for Mohamed Salah.
RB Leipzig and Ivory Coast winger Yan Diomande seems to have been the main target for a while, but it has emerged recently that he would actually prefer to join PSG should he leave Germany this summer.
But hope of landing a top-class winger to replace Salah is not lost yet, with David Lynch now suggesting that there is ‘real potential’ for Barcola to make the move to Anfield.
Should he do so, expect the Frenchman to don the number 29 shirt as a Liverpool player.
Who should Liverpool’s new top target be after being rejected by Yan Diomande?
This is a BIG blow to the Reds' summer plans 😓
Why Bradley Barcola wears the no.29 shirt
Commenting on the Reds’ move for the PSG ace, Lynch said: “You look around the market, and Barcola looks like the only one that is available in this moment.
“And I know personally he’s definitely someone Liverpool have liked for an awful long time. Definitely been on the list and watched very closely. So there’s real potential for that to happen.”
When or if he does move to Merseyside, Barcola will no doubt be keen to ensure he keeps hold of his favourite 29 shirt.
As quoted by Fabrizio Romano back in 2025, the 23-year-old explained that he never wants to let that number go, and adopted it thanks to the video game FC [formerly known as FIFA].
He said: “When I was younger, I used to play FIFA. In the story mode with Alex Hunter, this number became symbolic for me. I thought to myself: ‘The day I go pro, it’ll be number 29.’ And here I am, I adopted it, and now I’ll never let it go”.
Number 29 shirt history at Liverpool
Well, luckily for Barcola, it doesn’t seem like he will have much, if any, competition for the number 29 at Liverpool.
The last player to take that number at Anfield was Arthur Melo all the way back in the 2022/23 season.
Prior to that, it was given to now Tottenham Hotspur striker Dominic Solanke from 2017/18 to 2018/19, with the full shirt history seen below:
- Arthur Melo (22/23)
- Dominic Solanke (17/18-18/19)
- Fabio Borini (12/13-14/15)
- Krisztian Németh (08/09)
- Gabriel Paletta (06/07)
- Patrice Luzi (02/03-04/05)
- Stephen Wright (98/99-01/02)
- Brad Friedel (97/98)
- David Thompson (95/96)
Elsewhere, new signing Victor Munoz may face a fight to keep hold of his number 21 shirt he wore at Osasuna last season. Returning left-back Konstas Tsimikas had that number up until last season, when he was sent out on loan.
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