Iraola Dismisses Bradley Barcola Injury Worries

Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola has extinguished fears over a serious injury to marquee summer signing Bradley Barcola, confirming the winger was merely suffering from cramp during his full debut on Wednesday, 9 September.

The 24-year-old new arrival – who signed on from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in a £123-million agreement – made his first start for the Reds in their 2-1 UEFA Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid at Anfield. Barcola delivered an energetic performance, creating two clear-cut scoring opportunities before cameras caught him clutching his left calf near the 60-minute mark. After brief on-pitch treatment, he walked off unaided to be substituted.

At a post-match conference, Iraola clarified that the move was a precautionary measure linked to insufficient pre-season conditioning.

“It’s just [a] cramp; there is no injury,” the 44-year-old football manager explained. “With Bradley, it’s about building his physical condition … he didn’t have any minutes in [the] pre-season for PSG.”

Iraola praised the Frenchman’s intelligent attacking style despite missing his chances. Liverpool, who secured victory through goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, will manage Barcola’s workload carefully ahead of their English Premier League clash against Fulham this Saturday, 12 September.

Image Credit: Source