Bradley Barcola: Liverpool winger says he is not Mohamed Salah after leaving Paris Saint-Germain

Bradley Barcola says he has not yet reached his best form at Liverpool and insists he does not feel under pressure to replace Mohamed Salah.

The France winger joined Liverpool from Paris Saint-Germain last summer in a deal worth up to 145m euros, including bonuses. He told Sky Sports that he and his new team-mates were still developing their understanding on the pitch.

“I do not think I have reached my best level yet, so you have not seen the best version of me,” Barcola said. “We are also working with my team-mates so they can make better use of my strengths.”

He added: “Once we really develop our understanding, things will improve a lot. I feel there is constant progress. The players are beginning to understand my style of play better and I think things are going very well.”

Barcola was also asked about the size of his transfer and the expectations created by Salah’s departure from Liverpool last summer.

“I did not decide the value of my transfer, so it is not a problem for me,” he said.

Salah’s legacy

Barcola said Salah’s status at Liverpool meant he could not be expected to replicate the Egyptian’s contribution.

“Mohamed Salah is a legend here, a very big legend,” he said. “He did great things for this club and I have enormous respect for him, but I do not feel any pressure because of that.

“I am not Mohamed Salah. I will try to do everything I can to help the club and create my own mark in its history. I do not feel any pressure about that.”

The 23-year-old also explained why he decided to leave Paris Saint-Germain despite enjoying considerable success with the French club.

“For me, the time was right to leave Paris Saint-Germain,” Barcola said. “I had some great years there and won a huge number of trophies, but it was time to move on.”

He admitted the decision was difficult because of the close relationships he had formed at the club.

“It was very hard because the atmosphere there was like a family,” he said. “We built something very special together and it was difficult to say goodbye to my team-mates, but in the end that is football.”

Barcola said Liverpool’s approach immediately convinced him that a move to Anfield was the right decision.

“When a club the size of Liverpool contacts you, it is a wonderful thing,” he said. “I had no doubts and I knew I had to come here. I am happy to be with the team and I hope things go well for Paris Saint-Germain.”

Liverpool lost 1-0 to Arsenal in their most recent match, but Barcola said the defeat had not altered the team’s ambitions for the season.

“I do not think our objectives for the season have changed,” he said. “We should have played better in a match like this. We had chances to score and even to win the game.”

He added that Liverpool needed to control matches more effectively and make greater use of their technical quality.

“We need to work on controlling games more and playing better football,” Barcola said. “Often, when we play matches at this level, we resort to long balls. But I think we should try to keep the ball on the ground more because we have players with the quality to do that.”

Liverpool were “very disappointed” after the defeat, he said, but would respond by improving their consistency.

“We know what we need to improve and we will not give up,” Barcola added. “We also know other teams will drop points, so we must maintain our level until the end of the season.”