Andoni Iraola says new signing Bradley Barcola is ready to be part of the Liverpool squad for Friday’s Premier League clash at Ipswich Town.The France international completed a £123million ($166m) move to Anfield from Paris Saint-Germain earlier this week.“We are very happy with Bradley,” Iraola told reporters at a press conference to preview the trip to Portman Road.“It was our priority to sign a very good player in that position. He has come also with the right mentality. I liked from him that he wanted Liverpool a lot. Being the player that he is and the things that he has won recently, he has come with the willingness to help us. If everything goes well in training today, he will definitely be available for tomorrow’s game.”Asked if Barcola, who hasn’t played since the World Cup with France, was fit enough to start against Ipswich, Iraola added: “It’s a good question. I see him in a good place. He has trained with us three times.“It is true he hasn’t had minutes in pre-season but he has been training as normal with the group. It’s a decision we have to make. He’s in a good place but we have to consider he hasn’t played in pre-season games.”Iraola declared himself satisfied with the squad he’s got after a transfer window when Jeremy Jacquet’s arrival from Rennes was following by further deals for Victor Munoz, Ronald Araujo and Barcola.The sale of Curtis Jones to Inter came after Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate had left Liverpool as free agents.“I’m very happy with all the signings. I know the next question: ‘Did you want more signings in other positions?’ There were other options we decided not to take for different reasons.“Sometimes sporting reasons because they don’t improve what you have, sometimes economical reasons as it didn’t make sense in terms of the market to do those movements. I have a lot of quality and now it is the moment for us, for the players, for me, to develop what we have.”Liverpool considered selling Dutch forward Cody Gakpo to Manchester City for £80m, but rejected that offer on Monday after being unable to find a suitable replacement for an acceptable fee. They were frustrated in their attempts to agree a fee for either Brighton & Hove Albion right winger Yankuba Minteh or Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr.Iraola shrugged off concerns about the balance of the attack given that Barcola, Munoz, Gakpo and Rio Ngumoha all prefer to play off the left flank.“Cody is a very smart player and my relationship with him has been honest since the beginning,” he said.“He has performed very well. He scored in the first game, assisted in the next one. He was always aware of the situations in the market.“I am very glad to keep Cody.“We prefer at the end to have the best players probably rather than a player who is specifically for that position (on the right).“I am very used to demanding my wingers play both sides. I know they normally have a preference but we’ve been playing with Victor, Cody and Rio on the right.”Joe Gomez is set to return to training next week following the muscle injury he picked up on the pre-season tour of the US in July.Young defender Giovanni Leoni, who has been out for nearly a year with a knee injury, is expected to start training again during the international break later this month.
Andoni Iraola says Bradley Barcola available to make Liverpool debut against Ipswich
The France international completed a £123million ($166m) move to Anfield from Paris Saint-Germain earlier this week.










