Bradley Barcola is emerging as one of the promising young talents of French football. He has just joined the French U21 team at the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (stopping in the quarterfinals) and spent an impressive season at Olympique Lyon.

Bradley Barcola is 20 years old this year, was born in Villeurbanne (France) but has Togo roots. He soon showed his talent and joined Lyon’s famous training academy when he was only 8 years old. In the 2019/20 season, Barcola was a core member of the Lyon U19 team participating in the UEFA Youth League (eliminated in the quarterfinals). In the 2020/21 season, he played in the B team, attended National 2, contributed 2 goals and left many impressions.

And then, in the 2021/22 season, under coach Peter Bosz, Bradley Barcola was promoted to the first team. This player made his debut on November 4, 2021, replacing Rayan Cherki in the 81st minute of the match. 3-0 victory over Sparta Prague in Europa League. He left his mark with an assist for Karl Toko Ekambi in Les Gones’ third goal.

But it was not until this season that Barcola exploԀed violently, especially in the second half. In Ligue 1 alone, the 20-year-old striker played 26 matches (15 starts), with a total of 1,436 minutes, scored 5 goals and had 8 assists (the most in the team). In every 90 minutes, Barcola made 1.25 shots, launched 27.66 passes, created 1.51 key passes, had 5.02 dribbles, 1.51 tackles, 1.19 interceptions and 5.46 duels.

The advantage of Bradley Barcola is the speed and individual skill is very skillful, especially the dribbling phase full of magic. He has good tactical vision, extensive observation and knows how to launch passes that open up opportunities for teammates (key passes). This player’s shot accuracy rate is 65%, not bad at all for a 20-year-old.

In addition, Bradley is very versatile, adapting well to many different tactical systems. He can play many positions on the offensiʋe front, such as playing on both wings, in midfield and in ɑttack and has many matches played as a striker.

When Laurent Blanc (who replaced Peter Bosz in October 2022) operated a 4-2-3-1 system, Bradley Barcola was one of the three men behind the striker Alexandre Lacazette – who also played very well. This season with 27 goals (only 2 goals less than top scorer Kylian Mbappe). If switching to 3-1-4-2, Barcola will be trusted to pair up in ɑttack with Lacazette.

Although they have only been together in the first season, but Bradley shows an amazing chemistry with the 11-year-old older brother. Barcola is also the Lyon player with the most assists for Lacazette to score.

However, Barcola needs to improve his ability to pass long and also cross the ball from the inside. This is something that the original Togo player can completely improve in the future if he knows how to show a progressive spirit, eager to learn and practice hard.

Bradley Barcola himself seems to want to stay for another 1-2 seasons with Les Gones before finding a new, bigger destination. Currently, according to sources from European media, Liverpool, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig are competing fiercely and constantly making contact to convince the 20-year-old player to leave.