Liverpool’s weekend ended with Manchester City leaving Anfield 3-0 winners on Sunday, and with their most expensive summer signing fielding questions about why he is still waiting to deliver.

Bradley Barcola, 24, arrived from PSG in a £123m deal on 31 August, a basic £106m plus up to £17m in add-ons. He has not scored or assisted in the Premier League since, and his display against City drew sharp criticism from pundits.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the final whistle, the France winger offered his own read on what is new.

“Ligue 1 is very physical. But here, I would say it’s more physical in terms of the running you have to do. The games are end-to-end. The intensity is so high.”

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He went straight on to frame it as the reason he came.

“But that’s also why I came here. It’s a new challenge for me to take on.”

Iraola’s intensity

That is not a point Barcola is making for the first time. Days before City, he told the club’s own channel that life under Andoni Iraola is already shaped around volume of running.

“I think it’s very intense. It’s very different from Ligue 1. But yes, you have to work hard to be ready for a lot of running and that’s what I try to do in training to be prepared for every match.”

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He was warm on the head coach appointed on 4 June, after Arne Slot was sacked.

“He has very good ideas. He puts a lot of intensity, whether it’s in training or in a match. I think it’s very good to work like that so that we can win all our matches.”

Asked whether he was settling, Barcola was unforced.

“Yes, I feel comfortable. At the beginning, I had to adapt and now I feel that I’m adapting more and more.”

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Twenty-six minutes into his Liverpool debut, GPS data had him clocked at 35.9 km/h, the fastest sprint recorded in the Premier League this season.

Carragher among the critics

The speed has not translated into end product. Jamie Carragher was among Barcola’s most vocal critics after the City defeat, with the winger’s lack of a goal or assist contribution now the defining line on his Liverpool start.

Liverpool are back in action in the Champions League on Wednesday away to LASK in Linz, with Dominik Szoboszlai unlikely to feature and both Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo also sidelined.

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