Glen Johnson has addressed comments from France FIFA World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit, suggesting Liverpool overpaid for ‘overrated’ £123 million ($166.6 million) summer acquisition Bradley Barcola. The former Reds defender has expressed confidence that the winger will find his form following a challenging beginning to his Anfield tenure.
Barcola toiled in an unaccustomed striker’s position on Wednesday as Liverpool’s flawless UEFA Champions League league phase record ended with a 3-2 loss to Fenerbahçe in Istanbul.
The France international had shone in his prior Champions League road fixture, delivering an impressive hat-trick during the 6-3 winat LASK.
However, those strikes represent the sole goals Barcola has managed across his 13 outings for the Reds following his blockbuster transfer from European champions Paris Saint-Germain on August 31.
Earlier this month, former Arsenal, Barcelona, and Chelsea midfielder Petit, who captured the World Cup with France in 1998, stated via the Liverpool Echo: “£120m? I would never put that price tag on the table. We all know that in France.
“We know that he is a quality player, he could sometimes be great, but he doesn’t have consistency during games. He was good most of the time with Paris because of the whole team behind him. I would probably have spent £60m or £70m, maximum. That’s my opinion. It’s becoming common now that English clubs are spending so much money on overrated players.”
However, Johnson, who registered 200 appearances for Liverpool with nine goals and 13 assists following his £17.5 million (around $29 million) transfer from Portsmouth in June 2009, considers Barcola “world-class” and argues he shouldn’t be evaluated solely on his price tag.
He said: “I don’t think Barcola is overrated. I think he’s world-class. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. I think he’s brilliant.
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“I think what Manu Petit is trying to say is that he wasn’t worth that money. I think that’s what he meant. There’s no doubt about his talent, his ability and obviously fans have the right to think whether he’s world class or not. That’s up to them.
“But I think what Manu was actually meaning was the fact that there’s some other players who are really good that are going for half the money.
“So I think he meant more of that, than actually being not as good as people say. Because that’s two different things. You need the talent there to compete with each other. I was hoping Liverpool would sign him before. The financial stuff, that has nothing to do with us. We just want to see the best players at Liverpool and how they can get it done.
“And the best players will play. And the ones that aren’t playing have to improve. It can only be a good level of competition.”
With Barcola’s French international teammate Hugo Ekitike still on the sidelines, Reds manager Andoni Iraola nevertheless boasts an abundance of attacking talent to call upon.
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Cody Gakpo, Rio Ngumoha and Victor Muñoz, alongside Barcola, are all vying for the two wide positions, while Lewis Koumas has impressed the new head coach sufficiently to emerge as a credible backup to Alexander Isak up front as Ekitike continues his rehabilitation from a serious injury.
Isak notched his seventh goal in 13 appearances when he headed Liverpool ahead against Fenerbahçe, and after a difficult debut season with the 20-time English champions hampered by fitness concerns, the £125 million recruit from Newcastle United is beginning to hit his stride
“No one wants to be injured, but I think it’s very important for attacking players to have games under your belt,” said Johnson, speaking to PariuriX.com. “A rhythm of games to find that flair and the confidence to pull the things off that they can do so well.
“So it’s hard for them if they’re in one game, out for two, back for two, out for one. It’s very hard to get that consistency. But his ability is not questionable. It might be hard to rely on him in terms of when he’s available.”
Liverpool round out their schedule before the international break on Sunday with a trip to struggling Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
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