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Ronald Araujo has now arrived at Liverpool, so the focus can shift to Bradley Barcola next – at least that is the assumption, although there is one significant complication.

On Monday evening, the Reds officially announced the signing of the Uruguay defender on a season-long loan from Barcelona, with an option to make the deal permanent next year for £47.1m.

With that transfer now done, sporting director Richard Hughes can devote his full attention to trying to bring in the Paris Saint-Germain winger, who is reportedly in agreement over a five-year contract at Anfield. But it is not only the Paris club’s £128m asking price that is standing in the way of that move.

As Michael Reid, Football Data Editor at OptaJoe, explained clearly, Araujo’s arrival has taken Liverpool up to the maximum allowed limit of 17 non-homegrown players for their 2026/27 Premier League squad.

In simple terms, if Liverpool want to sign Barcola, they would either need to sell one of those 17 players to create space for him, or leave out one of the current players from their Premier League squad until January.

Reid later added that Andoni Iraola could, in theory, leave out Hugo Ekitike – who is expected to miss the rest of this year because of injury – for the first half of the season. However, doing that would only be, as he put it, “kicking the can down the road” when it comes to the non-homegrown quota.

The departures of Mo Salah and Ibrahima Konate had opened up two non-homegrown places at Liverpool, but those slots have now been taken by Victor Munoz and Araujo.

Jeremy Jacquet is exempt from the 25-man Premier League squad limit for this season because he was born after 1 January 2005. However, different UEFA competition rules mean he cannot be treated as an under-21 exemption for the Champions League.

If Fenway Sports Group are prepared to sell a current player in order to make room for Barcola, then a less prominent squad member such as Wataru Endo or Federico Chiesa could potentially be the one to go. On Monday, Football Insider reported that the Reds are open to selling the Japan midfielder.

The transfer window shuts three weeks from today, so Liverpool still have time for more arrivals and departures over the next 21 days. The key issue is making sure Iraola still has enough cover in every area of the pitch by the time September begins.

Even if Barcola ends up being out of reach, there is encouraging news for Liverpool in that they could sign his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Ibrahim Mbaye without affecting their non-homegrown quota, because he is still only 18. That would allow them to strengthen the squad without needing to move on a current player.

It remains to be seen what happens over the next three weeks.