With each passing summer, the football world grows more surprised by jumps in transfer fees.

Elliot Anderson’s £116million move from Nottingham Forest to Manchester City is this summer’s yard stick, with The Athletic reporting this week that Paris Saint-Germain believe their winger Bradley Barcola should be valued at a much higher price.

PSG do not feel the need to sell the 23-year-old after Milan signed Goncalo Ramos from them for a club-record fee (in the region of €70m). Barcola, however, has been reluctant to extend his two-year deal as he desires more starts. But if he were to push for a move, the winger would not be short of suitors. Arsenal’s admiration of the France international is known while Liverpool’s interest was reported in mid-June.

So, is Barcola worth more than the £116m City are paying Forest for Anderson?

From a pure financial perspective on player values, The Athletic has enlisted the help of Twenty First Group (TFG), a sports intelligence firm which includes high-profile clubs, leagues and more among its client base.

Note that:

• ‘Value’ does not equate to ‘price’.
• What Twenty First Group value a player at may differ materially from the same player’s projected price.
• Value is driven by intrinsic matters, agnostic of market factors — age, position, experience, to name just three.
• A player’s price incorporates aspects which impact what his existing club could expect to receive for him in a given transaction — think remaining contract length, wealth of the buyer, wealth of the seller, and so on.
• Value, not price, has been used here.

In Barcola’s case, TFG have valued him at £100m for buying Premier League clubs, considering he is a top talent with two or more years left on his contract, as well as the ability to play off both flanks and up front. This valuation does not include market factors that could dictate an eventual price such as the real-time wants and needs of who is buying and selling, which could see PSG demand much more, but it helps put us in the ballpark.

When viewed through the lens of the most expensive wingers to sign for Premier League clubs (Jack Grealish for £100m in 2021, Antony for £82m in 2022, Jadon Sancho for £73m 2021, Nicolas Pepe for £72m in 2019 and Bryan Mbeumo for £71m in 2025), TFG’s valuation does not feel out of place.

Looking back to last summer, Liverpool signed Florian Wirtz for €136.3million (£116m) and Alexander Isak for a deal worth £130million ($176m).

Nobody can say whether a player is worth their transfer fee until they have played for their new club, but opinions before then will come from that individual’s CV, and Barcola’s is interesting.

Before the World Cup, some may have viewed the winger as a back-up option for PSG and France, but that is a narrow view of a player who is part of the best attacking forces in club and international football.

In his three seasons at PSG, Barcola made 26 starts in 39 appearances in 2023-24, 44 starts in 58 appearances in 2024-25 and 35 starts in 48 appearances in 2025-26.

The 2024-25 campaign was his strongest with 21 goals and 18 assists, but increasingly, discussions around Barcola have centred around inconsistencies in front of goal. Some of his biggest misses have come in the biggest games. He could have ended Arsenal’s Champions League hopes late in a semi-final first leg in 2025, but dragged a tame effort wide after nice link-up play.

His missed effort against Sweden in the World Cup this week after baiting two defenders also had flashes of his Champions League final miss against Inter last year.

But Barcola tends to find the net as often as he should over the course of a season. He scored 11 league goals from an expected goals tally of 10.9 in 2025-26, and 14 league goals from an xG of 13.6 the season before.

How the numbers come about is more important than the raw data, though.

He may not be as deadly as PSG team-mates Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue, but Barcola has an electricity in his play that is refreshing in a football climate where wingers head towards their own goal more often

Some trends that emerge with his goals are being in the right place at the right time, or using his pace to run in behind like he did to double France’s group-stage lead against Senegal last month. There is thought behind the runs he makes, as below you can see he recognises the opportunity to sprint into space as soon as Adrien Rabiot receives the ball, but also a nice drop of the shoulder to pull a defender out of position to burst past him in the next example.

There are questions over whether he would be granted the same space to exploit by Premier League defences, but that speed may also help to create more chances from breakaways.

In this year’s Champions League final, Barcola came off the bench and threatened Arsenal with two bursts in behind William Saliba late on. Liverpool are more accustomed to playing on the break, scoring seven league goals from fast breaks last season compared to Arsenal’s four, so adding Barcola to these situations would benefit both teams.

While it is often his dribbling that takes the breath away, Barcola is also capable of special strikes. He scored two goals from outside the box in a 2-0 win over Lens early last season, but a different pair of goals stood out more.

Quizzed about his inconsistent finishing before facing Chelsea in the Champions League round of 16, Barcola was blasé in front of the press, doing his talking on the pitch. One touch, and a bang with his left foot arrowing the ball into the roof of the net put PSG 1-0 up. A week later, one touch with his left foot, and a bang with his right, and PSG were 2-0 up on the night (en route to a 8-2 aggregate win).

As an Arsenal writer, the second goal brought flashbacks of a similar finish against Chelsea from Thierry Henry (both below).

While Barcola’s finishing levels out with expectations each season, maybe scoring harder chances to make up for the easier ones he has missed, there are other interesting trends about his output.

In his last season at Lyon and first with PSG, looking from a 10-game rolling average, the winger overperformed his xG for most of the season. In the last two years, when PSG have done the Ligue 1 and Champions League double twice, Barcola tends to overperform his xG in the first half of the season and underperform after the New Year.

That factors into some of his memorable misses coming in the latter stages of the Champions League, but also shows that those misses should not define him.

The majority of forwards fluctuate in their stats, and that is true in Barcola’s assist numbers from the last two seasons.

He created two chances per 90 minutes in Ligue 1 in each, but the volatility was shown in the contrast between his expected assists (xA) and actual assists. In 2024-25, his xA of 5.9 resulted in 10 league assists, but last term, 4.5 xA only earned him one assist in the league.

For the method behind the numbers, there does need to be consideration for the difference in playing style between PSG and most teams. Luis Enrique has built the most fluid attacking unit in club football, with wingers doubling on one flank and players across the team given licence to roam as long as they are in a position to press well when possession is lost.

With that, the chances and assists Barcola creates rarely come from crosses. In fact, last season in Ligue 1, he completed just five crosses (0.3 per 90). By comparison, Bukayo Saka completed 40 at Arsenal (1.6 per 90) and Mo Salah completed 20 at Liverpool (0.45 per 90). The lack of crossing from Barcola may not be down to a lack of ability, as seen with his crossed assist for Doue against Norway at the World Cup, but may be an area that needs to be developed.

As for the assists Barcola has earned in recent seasons, there will be no surprise that his blistering pace plays a big role, alongside his willingness to take on his man.

For a blend of these two attributes, below are two examples of moments that are almost second nature: using his first touch to beat a man (which he does to create PSG’s first goal in a 4-2 comeback win over Manchester City) and then another run behind into space.

Both these assists were for Dembele, and these square passes across the box are often how the pair combine for goals.

Other players will elicit different combinations. For example, everybody will remember Senny Mayulu’s goal in the 2025 Champions League final for his amazing smile while celebrating, but the one-two between him and Barcola had led to an almost identical goal against Strasbourg earlier that season (both below).

All these examples are from the 2024-25 season, but if you have a moment to look at the four Champions League assists Barcola made last season, they all look very similar.

That understanding that makes football look simple may not be as eye-catching as the ball-rolls, nutmegs and dummies, but can sometimes be more effective.

Barcola is 24 in September and more efficiency is what clubs will hope he brings into next season.

There is no doubt over his talent, but does he need to be the man out wide as opposed to one of a group to show that on a more consistent basis than he did last year? He has already shown this summer at the World Cup he can force himself into a starting XI among the world’s best after starting the tournament on the bench.

Some will scoff at PSG’s valuation in excess of the £116m agreed for Anderson, but in the current market that feels fair. The real question is how far north does that valuation go?

Whoever does go for Barcola — if anyone — it will take a massive effort, but as shown above, it could be worth it.

Do you understand now, Alexi, why we cannot just jettison 150 years of history and let football become a game of four quarters?!?

How else would we describe the madness that unfolded in Toronto on Thursday than by resorting to the tried-and-tested description of Portugal v Croatia being a game of two halves?

Before we dive into the full box set of controversies, drama and narratives, let us start with a quick recap of those two halves.

First half: Portugal have the ball, Croatia don’t.

It is really hot and sticky. The old man up front is having an absolute nightmare… Ante Budimir, that is. His opposite number, so to speak, is also having a quiet game, but we at least notice all of his touches because the vociferous Croatian support boos every time it happens.

The whistle blows for half-time and I am already wondering if I should follow the advice on the LED advertising boards and rush to (your own favourite prediction market) and buy shares in another penalty shootout.

Second half: Everything changed.

First up, Budimir got hooked. He had been on borrowed time since the first hydration break. He was replaced by 23-year-old Igor Matanovic, 11 years his junior and it showed. Suddenly, Croatia had someone to aim for.

Within minutes, Nikola Vlasic and Mateo Kovacic both had decent efforts saved by Diogo Costa in the Portugal goal. Having spent the first half scampering from side to side like defenders in a handball match, Kovacic and Luka Modric were now playing like two point guards, exchanging passes, driving their team up the court, sorry, pitch.

Eight minutes into this half that was so different to the first you could have almost forgiven FIFA for trying to sell it as another game (oh no, I have given them another dreadful idea, haven’t I?), Josep Stanisic made an overlapping run down the right. His cross went over the heads of the grappling centre-backs and strikers… was it another near miss for the increasingly charmed Portuguese goal?

Hold on, who is that enterprising chap at the back post? I recognise him… it’s Ivan Perisic, the man who broke English hearts in the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup in Russia and then broke Tottenham hearts by failing to do anything like it in two seasons when he looked every bit like a 33-year-old winger looking forward to retirement.

Now 37, this was the Perisic who has always turned up for Croatia. Having taken a touch or two to control the ball, he smashed it past Costa and Croatia were 1-0 up.

Two minutes later, they were 2-0 up… for about five seconds until we realised that there had been an offside in the build-up to Vlasic’s finish. Croatia were rampant and Portugal were in pieces.

What on earth would we journalists have to write about if the score stayed like this, wondered nobody, because at that precise moment he who has not yet been mentioned popped up with a sublime touch to control a cross-field pass with the outside of his foot and then lift the ball over Dominik Livakovic’s head.

Cristiano Ronaldo has only gone and done it. An 11th World Cup goal, his first in the knockout rounds, his 25th in major championships… oh, he was offside, but only just. Back to the basketball match.

Ronaldo scores a beautiful disallowed goal (Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski / AFP via Getty Images)

Or is it? Roberto Martinez has seen enough of his tiring midfield to know he must change lines. Four off, four on. We are now playing hockey, which seems apt in Canada.

A minute later and Portugal have a corner. Croatia head it away and launch another attack. Hold on? Why are the Portuguese bench jumping up and down, waving their arms about?

Oh, I see. Vlasic had decided to throw another sport into the mix by rugby tackling Renato Veiga at that corner. Before anyone in the stadium had a clue what was going on, Norwegian referee Espen Eskas was at the VAR monitor. He did not take long to make his mind up, it was a penalty.

Yep, Ronaldo only went and did it. An 11th World Cup goal, his first… oh, I have done this bit already. But what I did not get to explain last time was that he and at least half the 45,000 people in the stadium yelled the loudest “Siuu!” I have ever heard. Seriously, I may have a case for an industrial injury claim.

Ronaldo exclaims after his strike from the penalty spot. It was loud! (Photo: Cole Burston / AFP via Getty Images)

The game then settled down, as both sides settled for… what am I talking about? They both continued to take wild swings at each other, like drunks brawling in the street.

Kovacic nearly scores with two great shots within about 10 seconds of each other, and then Petar Sucic, Croatia’s next big star, did find the net, only for this one to be chalked off for offside, too. This was as close as the Ronaldo offside goal.

And then Martinez decided to show some main-character energy of his own by making his fifth substitution, Ruben Neves. But who would be coming off the defensive midfielder?

What, is that the No 7 being held up? As in seven minutes of added time? Already?

Ronaldo departs… but not from the World Cup (Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

No, Ronaldo’s time was up.

Might that be the last sight of him at a World Cup?

The board goes up again and this time it says there will be 10 more minutes of this. Great!

And only four of those had ticked by when Goncalo Ramos, the man I am sure I had seen bring the curtain down on Ronaldo’s Portugal career in Qatar four years ago by scoring a World Cup hat-trick against Switzerland, soared above the Croatia defence to flick a Rafael Leao cross past the despairing Livakovic.

It was a brilliant goal. One worthy of winning this match or any other. But it was not the last act in this drama.

The clock kept ticking: 90+8, 90+9, 90+10, 90+11… Croatia are going route one now but Portugal are holding firm. Substitute Francisco Conceicao even has time to weave into the Croatia box and slice a shot wide.

Surely this is over… what?!?! Perisic, the Croatian goal-involvement legend, pumps the ball into the box, it bounces off Mario Pasalic and a combination of Neves and Josko Gvardiol bundle it into the net. Cue delirium.

Record scratch. Eskas is at that VAR box again!

It is at this point that our final guest sport entered the chat.

“Hello, cricket! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I am here to tell you that the inertial measurement unit in the Trionda match ball has caused a disturbance in the force. That cross into the box grazed a hair on Matanovic’s head, making Pasalic, who was onside, offside. Sorry!”

We then got a few more bonus minutes while Croatia’s fans used the pitch as a recycling centre and various volunteers tried to clear up. Oh, I probably should have mentioned that there was another unwanted item on the pitch minutes earlier, when an idiot in a Portugal shirt sprinted across the pitch and got within metres of being punched in the face by Ronaldo. Luckily, two security guards saved him the effort.

But that really was that in terms of action. What followed was a lot of emotion.

At one end of the pitch, there was 40-year-old Modric holding back tears. At the other end, Ronaldo was now wearing Diogo Jota’s No 21 jersey, and it was all of us holding back tears. This game was played a day short of the first anniversary of the deaths of Jota and his brother, Andre Silva.

Ronaldo holds up a shirt bearing the No 21 of Diogo Jota (Photo: Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images)

Speaking to RTP after the game, Ronaldo said: “It’s a special day because, as you know, our Jota is up there illuminating us.

“It’s a special moment. We all felt that he is present with us, and it only made sense to win today to honour him in the best way.”

As for his own future, the 41-year-old icon was tight-lipped.

When he was asked to explain the decision to substitute his captain, Martinez told Brazilian TV that he did it to help the team, as simple as that.

“I don’t think there’s a player at the World Cup who could have taken that penalty the way he did in those circumstances,” he said.

I am not so sure about that, but it was a very good penalty.

“It was amazing,” said Martinez, when asked in his post-match press conference about the atmosphere in the stadium.

“It reminds me of the old-fashioned Premier League. Wonderful pitch. It’s a shame there aren’t more games in Toronto.”

Croatia’s manager Zlatko Dalic was clearly still fuming about the snick-o-meter call, but acknowledged that we had all witnessed something very special.

“There is a sadness but, of course, a wonderful atmosphere,” he said. “A lot of support from our fans. It was truly wonderful football. I would like to keep the feeling that football is such and not become a business.”

Me too, Zlatko. So, let us resist these extra advertising breaks, and preserve the long, honourable tradition of games of two halves.

Hold on, a game that good needs a postscript. If that was the last time we got to see Modric play, thank you, Luka. It has been a privilege.

But, as Martin Baturina and Petar Sucic put it in the mixed zone, he was the best player on the pitch. Maybe it is not over for him just yet.

Welcome to our Who am I? game.

The rules are simple. Each day there’s a new footballer and the challenge is to guess who they are in as few attempts as possible.

After each wrong guess you unlock a new clue. Guess the answer after as few clues as possible to score more points.

Three is a good score, four or five points is exceptional.

So take part and return for more tomorrow.

Today’s player and clues set by BBC Sport’s Huzaifah Khan.

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