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‘Players will go for 500m!’ - Bradley Barcola’s £123 million transfer to Liverpool has alarmed former France international Bacary Sagna, who has warned that ‘this has to stop’.

Bradley Barcola was strongly linked with Arsenal during the summer transfer window, but he eventually joined Liverpool after sealing a £123 million ($167m) switch from Paris Saint-Germain. That transfer has prompted raised eyebrows and concern, with former Arsenal and France defender Bacary Sagna discussing the financial condition of football in an exclusive interview.

Big money spent by Premier League clubs

The elegant full-back, who also had a spell at Manchester City during his playing career, has been reflecting on another hectic transfer window in which clubs in the Premier League spent massive sums.

Fresh records have been set by deals involving the likes of Morgan Rogers and Enzo Fernandez - with Chelsea heavily involved in major spending there - while Champions League winner Barcola has become another expensive arrival at Anfield.

Liverpool have spent heavily over the last 12 months, while Chelsea, City, Tottenham and Arsenal have done the same. Transfer fees keep increasing across the game, which in turn pushes up costs for loyal supporters, and Sagna fears football may be moving in a troubling direction.

Are 500m transfer fees coming next?

Asked about Barcola’s move to England and whether Arsenal stepped away after deciding that a nine-figure fee could not be justified, Sagna said: “Barcola is an amazing player but he's young, he's 24 now, he has proven himself at Paris and in Lyon previously but this has to stop.

“He went for 123 million, no? That's a lot of money if he's evaluated now. I know that we can't compare generations and I know the world is moving and economically it's not the same. Proportionally, yes it makes sense because you sell other players for 100 million and he's better than them, but it doesn't make sense.

“They should have limit. For me it doesn't remove anything on his quality, he's a top player and I think he's going to be good at Liverpool, but for me this is crazy, this is 123 million. They should have a limit and they should set up a limit because in five years what's going to happen? Players will leave for 500 million?”

Concerns over football finances

Sagna then spoke about the issues professional football has been dealing with recently, with FIFA attracting plenty of unfortunate headlines: “You know it's football, a business, it's good football became a business but any business going high also has its bad side and danger.

“So to regulate football rules and football financial rules you have to be very smart because soon something like we saw with FIFA trying to sell the World Cup will happen and I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised because there is no limit, there is no financial rules anymore. Any player can leave for any kind of money.

“There have to be rules and roots. When you were educated, you have 60 per cent from when you are little, you were grounded in that, and then of course you will develop yourself on the other 40. Football has to be the same.

“The basics will never change if you start touching the most important things and you get trouble. When I see all the problems with FIFA being attacked by everyone, I'm not surprised. And this is the same for players.

“Soon you will have players complaining and clubs complaining and clubs being out of the financial fair play, so top clubs will control it and you'll have to bring other clubs that are not going to have the same quality. The image rights will be damaged because if you don't have the same quality, then you don't have the same money, and when you start going down that path it is difficult to stop. We need to be careful.”

Will Barcola justify Liverpool’s price tag?

There seems little chance of Premier League clubs slowing their spending any time soon, with the rewards attached to challenging for trophies at home and in Europe still too tempting - and too lucrative - to pass up.

It is still unclear whether Barcola will justify the belief and money invested in him - with the likes of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak having struggled to live up to their respective fees at Liverpool - and more records are likely to fall as clubs continue chasing success while spending from the deepest pockets.