€130m? Richard Hughes can do better for final blockbuster Liverpool transfer

€130m? Richard Hughes can do better for final blockbuster Liverpool transfer Richard Hughes can do better than a proposed €130m deal on his way out of Liverpool. The clock is now counting down on Richard Hughes’s time as Liverpool sporting director. That’s according to recent reports, such as from the BBC , which suggest Hughes is set to join Al-Hilal after the summer. There have long been links claiming Hughes is off there, mostly from Saudi Arabia. Now it seems there was something to it and everyone expects him to depart in the coming months. Steven Francis, his long-time assistant, is already working at the club. It’s surely just a matter of time before Liverpool are hunting for someone new. Hughes, then, needs to leave with a bang. Desperately, actually, because we’re not exactly impressed with his work thus far . Liverpool have unquestionably moved backwards with their squad and sacrificed some top talent to do so. And if he does want to leave positively, he’s got to do better than the proposed deal to sign Bradley Barcola. We’ve written before that as good as the Frenchman is, he’s a level below the truly elite level - and so €130m for him is far, far too much. That’s the price tag mentioned by the Athletic and we’re yet to see what justifies that valuation from Paris Saint-Germain. Especially coming off Barcola’s display against Paraguay on Saturday evening. Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets Open an account and place a qualifying bet of £10 at min odds of 1/5 (1.2) or greater. 18+New UK/ROI customers. Min £5 deposit. Bet Credits available on settlement of qualifying bets, capped at £10 stake. Min odds 1/5 (1.20). Bet Credits expire in 7 days. Excl. Cashed Out/Free Bets/Boosted odds. T&Cs apply. GambleAware.org £30 FREE CLAIM NOW 18+Gambling can be addictive — please only bet what you can afford to lose. For free support visit BeGambleAware.org or call 0808 8020 133 (free, 24/7). Self-exclude at GAMSTOP.co.uk . AnfieldWatch is not a licensed betting operator. Offers subject to change. France struggled to score as a whole against the South Americans, so Barcola shouldn’t take the blame for not delivering his best. At the same time, he was yet again a cut below. Barcola managed a fraction of the touches his attacking teammates managed, with just 30 in his hour of play. For comparison, Desire Doue, who came on for him, managed 32 in 30 minutes. Doue also created more, won a penalty, and was generally far more dangerous. Barcola’s sole attempt on goal was a 30-yard effort that missed the target. Now again, this isn’t to say that he’s bad. He’s not - he’s actually a fantastic winger. Barcola just isn’t a player at the absolute peak of the game and spending €130m on him feels like a massive mistake. That’s not a price tag he’s likely to live up to. It comes one year after spending that amount on Alexander Isak, too - another forward who hasn’t lived up to the billing and looks a level below the truly elite. Having two such players for a combined €250m could seriously hurt Liverpool long-term. Finding a smarter move here, even as Hughes’s last big-money one, is surely the right thing to do.