Bradley Barcola’s Liverpool career could begin under the Portman Road lights on Friday night, and Andoni Iraola already sounds like a manager desperate to see his new attacking weapon unleashed.

The £123million arrival from Paris Saint Germain has been declared available for Liverpool’s trip to Ipswich Town, providing he comes through Thursday’s training session without issue.

Iraola described the Frenchman as Liverpool’s “priority” signing and praised both his quality and his desire to move to Anfield. 

That desire could now be rewarded with an immediate Premier League debut. Whether Barcola starts is another question. The winger has not played competitive club football this season and had a limited pre-season following his involvement with France at the World Cup.

Despite Barcola insisting he feels ready, easing him into English football from the bench may be the sensible option. 

But whenever he enters the pitch, Iraola has an obvious blueprint for using him.Barcola is at his most dangerous operating from the left, receiving possession high and wide before attacking his full-back. His explosive acceleration gives Liverpool something particularly useful against an Ipswich side that conceded five at Manchester United last weekend.

Iraola wants aggression, intensity and vertical football. Barcola fits that philosophy almost perfectly.

Rather than constantly asking him to come short, Liverpool can isolate him against Ipswich’s right-back and allow Milos Kerkez to make overlapping or underlapping runs. 

Florian Wirtz drifting towards the left half-space could create further overloads, while Alexander Isak’s movement through the middle should open channels for Barcola to attack.

There is also the devastating counter-attacking option. Thierry Henry highlighted Barcola’s exceptional speed this week while stressing the importance of putting him into one-v-one situations. 

That feels tailor-made for Iraola. If Ipswich push forward at Portman Road, one Liverpool turnover could quickly become Wirtz releasing Barcola into acres of space. Equally, if the hosts tire, introducing the Frenchman for the final half-hour could be brutal.

Liverpool have drawn their opening two league matches 2-2, leaving Iraola searching for his first victory as Reds boss.  Barcola does not solve every problem in this Liverpool squad, but he offers something they desperately need, unpredictability.

Friday night could provide the first glimpse of exactly why Liverpool were willing to spend £123million to get him.

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