Barcola risks UEFA fine after penalty row as Liverpool eye £6m Uruguayan teenager Scotti

Bradley Barcola has acknowledged he could be fined by UEFA after speaking out about a disallowed penalty claim during France’s UEFA Nations League victory over Belgium, while Liverpool are said to be tracking 16-year-old Uruguayan winger Nicolas Scotti.

Barcola went down under a challenge from Nathan Ngoy inside the Belgian penalty area, but the referee waved play on. The Liverpool winger chose to address the incident publicly despite knowing the potential consequences.

“If I talk about it, I’m probably in trouble, but I have to say what I think,” Barcola said. “I felt the contact. I was inside the box and I was trying to continue the action. Maybe the referee saw it differently, but from where I was, it affected the play.”

Barcola added that his frustration stemmed less from the individual call and more from a perceived lack of consistency. “What frustrates me most is that these decisions can change a game. You work for 90 minutes and sometimes one moment decides everything. I don’t want to complain about referees in the Nations League or Premier League, I just want consistency. If there is contact and it affects the attacker, at least take another look. I’ll probably get fined for saying this, but honestly, I thought it was a penalty.”

On the transfer front, reports from South America claim Liverpool are among the clubs monitoring Nicolas Scotti, a 16-year-old winger at Uruguayan club Defensor Sporting. The teenager is said to carry a release clause of just under £6m and is comfortable operating on either flank. He marked his debut for Uruguay’s Under-18 side in August with a goal and an assist, and has already featured in senior league football for Defensor, though he is yet to score at that level.

Defensor Sporting, based in Montevideo, is the club where 2010 World Cup figures Sebastian Abreu and Maxi Pereira began their careers. Liverpool are reported to face competition from other major European clubs and Brazilian sides in any potential pursuit of Scotti.

Elsewhere in the Liverpool camp during the international break, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak — on loan at Newcastle — both left their respective national squads early. Isak’s issue is reported to be minor, while Gakpo’s absence is expected to be more prolonged. Liverpool’s next Premier League fixture remains over a week away.