Bradley Barcola

The season in numbers

All competitions

61 games, a PSG record for a single season

Ligue 1

34 games, 14 goals, 10 assists, UNFP Team of the Season

Champions League

17 games, 3 goals, 3 assists

Coupe de France

Two goals and an assist in the 3-0 final vs Reims

2024-25 awards

UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Month September 2024, Ligue 1 Team of the Season

The kid from Villeurbanne

Born in Villeurbanne on September 2, 2002. Togolese father, French mother. Older brother Malcolm, a Togo international midfielder. Age 8, Lyon Academy. Pro at 19. First OL match on November 4, 2021, Europa League, off the bench replacing Cherki, assisting Toko Ekambi with his first touch. Two professional seasons at Lyon after that, 45 matches, three goals, a reputation as a winger slow out of the blocks but sharp in the final action.

Summer 2023. Paris buy him for 45 million euros. Lyon are in a sporting and financial crisis, several academy graduates leave in the same window. In the local press, the anger isn't aimed at the board selling him. It's aimed at the player accepting the move. The 'traitor' label sticks in parts of the Lyon stands before Barcola has even played a Paris match.

His first PSG season is clean but not spectacular. 39 matches, 5 goals, 8 assists. In June 2024, UNFP votes him Ligue 1 Signing of the Season. Luis Enrique, who starts him regularly on the left wing, sums up his verdict in a few words: 'Bradley can play in all three attacking positions: left, right, and number 9. His versatility is what I appreciate.'

'You are pieces of trash'

On September 3, 2023, his first return to Groupama Stadium in a PSG shirt, he is booed at kick-off, at the team-sheet announcement, and on every touch. The Bad Gones banner in the north end targets Barcola and Castello Lukeba, his former Lyon teammate who had left for RB Leipzig the same summer. The line is short, five words on a black background in white marker: 'You are pieces of trash.'

Jean-Michel Aulas, still Lyon president at the time, publicly defends the player: 'It's not Bradley who should be targeted, it's the board that accepted the sale.' The late clarification doesn't change the stadium's chanting. Barcola comes on at 67 that night, plays 23 minutes, doesn't touch the ball without being booed.

A year later, September 2024, France vs Belgium in the UEFA Nations League at the same Groupama Stadium. Barcola is brought on. Booed on entry, booed on every touch, booed on the way off. He does not comment publicly.

Key moments

Five moments from a season where Bradley Barcola, who had been insulted by a stand of supporters, answered back in numbers: two-goal involvement on the City equaliser, a Coupe de France final brace, an assist on the very last goal of the Champions League final.

1. 2023-09-03

   Groupama Stadium, the banner

   His first match back at Lyon in a Paris shirt. The Bad Gones unveil the banner. Barcola comes on at 67. Booed on every touch.

2. 2024-09-XX

   UNFP, Player of the Month

   September 2024. Barcola is voted Ligue 1 Player of the Month by UNFP. First public sign that his second Paris season will hit a different level.

3. 2025-01-22

   Manchester City, decisive on the first two goals

   PSG 0-2 down after an hour. Assist for Dembélé at 56, tap-in after Doué's shot hits the crossbar at 60. PSG win 4-2 and rescue their UCL campaign.

4. 2025-05-24

   Coupe de France final, brace

   Coupe de France final against Reims. Barcola scores twice and adds an assist. PSG win 3-0.

5. 2025-05-31

   Munich, assist on the 5-0

   Comes on at 67 for Doué. At 86, one-two with Mayulu, Mayulu scores. Assist on the final goal of the 5-0 Champions League final win over Inter.

Manchester City, the first two goals

January 22, 2025, Parc des Princes. UEFA Champions League league phase. PSG are 0-2 down after an hour. Grealish at 50, Haaland at 53. Barcola, starting on the left, takes a pass from the right and slips Dembélé through in the box. The ball hits the net in the 56th minute. Assist, 2-1.

Three minutes later, new attack. Doué shoots, the ball thunders off the crossbar. The rebound drops at Barcola's feet. He taps it in. 60th minute. 2-2. The Parc tilts. Two actions, at 21, that unlock the entire campaign. Without the equaliser, PSG likely exit in the league phase. Neves will add the 3-2 at 78 on a Vitinha free-kick, Ramos will seal the 4-2 deep in added time.

The match gets replayed all week on beIN. Barcola doesn't talk to the press in the mixed zone. His numbers do the talking: seven shots, two key passes, two big chances created. The kid bought to try and fill Mbappé's space had just played a match that looked like Mbappé.

The role changes, the player stays

January 17, 2025, Paris announce Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The Georgian takes the left wing. Barcola, a starter for sixteen months, shifts into rotation. Luis Enrique publicly tells him the club values his versatility. Barcola absorbs it without going on the record. The numbers come in anyway: 14 Ligue 1 goals, 10 assists, UNFP Team of the Season at year end. His first season past twenty Ligue 1 goal contributions.

January 29, 2025, final matchday of the Champions League league phase, away at Stuttgart. PSG need the win to lock in direct qualification. Barcola opens the scoring in the 6th minute. PSG win 4-1. Three weeks later: round-of-16 playoff first leg, PSG 7-0 Brest, Barcola opens again, this time at 20 after a vertical run. May 24, 2025, Coupe de France final against Reims. L'Équipe rate him 8 out of 10. Kvaratskhelia is forfait, Doué is a last-minute starter on the left wing, and hands Barcola two goals in three minutes, at 16 and 19. Barcola adds an assist for Hakimi at 43. A hat-trick is denied by a decisive Diouf save at 59. PSG win 3-0. On May 31 in Munich, he comes on at 67 for Désiré Doué. At 70, a half-volley narrowly off target. At 81, a cut inside Acerbi in the box, shot deflected. At 86, he plays a one-two with Senny Mayulu, Mayulu scores. 5-0. Assist on the final goal of the Champions League final.

Coaches' Voice, the day after, sums up the sequence in one line: 'PSG refused to take their foot off the gas, and it could have been even more humiliating for Inter, particularly when substitute Bradley Barcola came close to scoring after a scintillating dribble.' At 22, he ends the season with a European medal, a double-digit line in both major attacking categories, and a reputation that has nothing left in common with the Gerland banner.