Bradley Barcola bounced into Anfield with the look of a man desperate to impress.Upon completing his move from Paris Saint-Germain, worth an initial £106million (about €125m) plus add-ons potentially rising to £17m (€20m), he made it clear in his first interview that he would be letting his feet do all the talking.“Speed and danger” were the words he chose in response to a question about what supporters can expect once he’s settled in. The 23-year-old is a quiet and reserved man of few words but possesses skills to supercharge Liverpool’s attack and is seen as the game-changing arrival for Andoni Iraola this summer.In line with the club strategy to bring in elite performers under the age of 24, his arrival takes Liverpool’s spending to almost £670million, including performance add-ons, since the start of last summer. There’s no doubt this pursuit required more patience than others, but it was one worth waiting for.In constructing this article, The Athletic has spoken to people with knowledge of the circumstances around the deal, who asked to be kept anonymous to protect relationships, unless otherwise noted.PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi stood firm through lengthy and, at times, tense negotiations with Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes before Mike Gordon, the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) president, who has recently taken on greater day-to-day control following the departure of FSG CEO of football Michael Edwards, became involved in the latter stages. The finer details were not easy to iron out, but eventually a breakthrough was found following a crunch meeting on August 25.People with knowledge of the negotiations said that because of the size and structure of the deal, additional talks were still needed, but on August 28, the hard hours were almost over. Liverpool pushed and probed to get the price down and eventually shook hands on a deal that included paying the additional £4.3m (€5m) solidarity payment that his former club Lyon will receive for Barcola.Barcola training for PSG after returning from the World Cup (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)All that was left was a medical and the official paperwork, with Liverpool sources saying that Barcola had made it clear throughout that his heart was set on Anfield and that he wouldn’t consider interest from other clubs.When Liverpool announced the news, Barcola became the most expensive transfer from Ligue 1, and the second-highest arrival at Anfield behind Alexander Isak, who cost £125m from Newcastle United a year ago. He’s the marquee signing supporters have been craving all summer, and now the hope is that he can spark a turnaround in form after the club’s difficult start to the new season.Barcola’s desire to join Liverpool was strong once he made the decision this summer to consider a change.The lure of Anfield appealed, but there was no guarantee he would leave in this window. Towards the back end of last season, his future remained uncertain, and a switch to Liverpool felt a long way off.Although Barcola would have been disappointed not to start either of the Champions League semi-finals against Bayern Munich or the final against Arsenal, he did come off the bench in the Budapest showpiece as the first substitute to help his side to victory.Discussions over a new contract had already started, but there were no signs of a breakthrough, and as he headed to the World Cup with France, PSG viewed the winger as not for sale.At that point Liverpool’s main priority was Yan Diomande, then of RB Leipzig. The Ivory Coast winger was identified as a player who could fit into the right-sided attacking role vacated by Mohamed Salah, but also play in other positions across the forward line if needed. During discussions with the German club, Liverpool expressed a willingness to put forward a package approaching €100million, but that would not be enough to tempt Leipzig into selling, and Diomande also had other ideas for his next move.