Jamie Carragher has urged Liverpool to focus on finding a replacement for Mohamed Salah rather than pursuing Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola — arguing that the club's most pressing need lies on the right flank, not the left.

Sky Sports News reported that Liverpool are preparing an opening offer for the France international, who is valued at £128.5 million by PSG and is also attracting interest from Arsenal. Despite that interest, Carragher believes the move does not address Liverpool's most urgent gap.

The right wing problem

"He's a great player, there's no doubt about that — I'd love to get Barcola at Liverpool," Carragher told Sky Sports News. "But he's a left winger for me."

"Liverpool's big thing that stands out like a sore thumb right now is replacing Mo Salah, a right winger. And I don't think Liverpool have got anybody really in the squad who looks fully comfortable playing right wing."

With Cody Gakpo, Rio Ngumoha, and new signing Victor Munoz already available on the left, Carragher argued that Liverpool are building an imbalanced squad by adding another option in that area. He stressed that while none of those players may match Barcola's quality, the positional need simply does not exist in the same way it does on the right.

"They probably have at least four players in the squad before Barcola joins, if he joins, who could play on the left-hand side comfortably," he said. "It's not the position Liverpool need right now. They need a right winger."

Ngumoha's future at stake

Carragher also raised concerns about what a Barcola signing would mean for Ngumoha, who turns 18 in August. The teenager delivered a breakthrough campaign last season, scoring twice in 19 Premier League appearances.

"Rio's a young lad, he's really good. I think he's going to kick on from where he did last season," Carragher said. "But that is a point: you're buying a really young player for a lot of money in Barcola, who's better than Rio Ngumoha right now."

He pointed to what he described as a contradiction in Liverpool's thinking. When Luis Diaz was sold last season, the club signalled they would not pursue a left winger so as not to block Ngumoha's development. Twelve months later, Liverpool appear ready to spend heavily on exactly that position.

"You think Liverpool might have a player there for the future. Yet 12 months on, Liverpool are going to break the bank for someone in that position. When 12 months earlier they said they didn't want to block Rio's path," Carragher said.

The one scenario Carragher would welcome

Despite his reservations, the former Liverpool defender left the door open for the transfer to make sense — under certain conditions.

"If they go out and get a player for the right wing, bring Barcola in and then sell a couple of the wide players that they have on the books right now, I think that'd be fantastic," he said. "But right now, I felt this summer would be about replacing Mo Salah. Barcola doesn't replace Mo Salah."