Big money signings can take time to get going at their new club. There are plenty at Liverpool who can testify to that.

As Sky Sports settles into a room at Liverpool's AXA training facility, a large window shows some of their big-money stars walking off one of the pitches after a recovery session. It's a sheer amount of attacking wealth.

Two of them are Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, who arrived in deals that could reach a combined £241m. But the jury is still out on both of them. Isak has only just started delivering his highly-anticipated goal numbers, while many believe Wirtz is yet to get going on Merseyside.

This year, Bradley Barcola - who goes from the pitch to sitting in front of the Sky Sports cameras in the training facility - is the latest marquee signing, this time for £123m. But a slow start to life at Anfield brought about familiar concerns about recent buys.

After making the move, Barcola failed to get a goal or an assist in his first 10 games for club and country this season. But then came some encouraging signs.

A hat-trick in Liverpool's thumping Champions League over LASK was backed up by back-to-back assists in wins over the tricky Brighton and Brentford.

While Barcola fired a blank against Arsenal in the last match, his first half running caused the Premier League champions a lot of concerns. Isak and Wirtz didn't quite start this quickly, so is Barcola starting to deliver on that hefty cheque?

"No, I don't think I'm at my best yet," Barcola tells Sky Sports. "You still haven't seen the best version of me.

"On top of that, we're working with my team-mates so that they can make the most of my strengths.

"So yes, I think once we really develop that understanding, things will get much better. And I think things are improving all the time.

"People are beginning to understand my style of play much better. I think it's going much better."

After Isak arrived as the British record transfer last year, with Wirtz also entering Liverpool as the golden boy of German football, Barcola has arrived at Liverpool under different, arguably more microscopic circumstances.

Barcola is the marquee attacking signing in the wake of Mohamed Salah's departure this summer. Salah graced Anfield with his world-class ability and delivered titles. Barcola arrived as a back-to-back European champion with Paris Saint-Germain.

When signings like these are made, there is expectation, which leads to pressure. But Barcola insists he is not feeling anything of the sort - neither the huge price tag, nor Salah's shadow on the club.

"First of all, I wasn't the one who decided the transfer fee," he says. "So that's not been my problem.

"And regarding Mo Salah, he's a legend here. A huge one. He's done big things here and for that I have an enormous respect for him. But it's not pressure for me at all.

"I'm not Mohamed Salah, so I'm going to try to contribute whatever I can to the club and make my own mark on its history. I don't feel any pressure about that."

Those final words feel pertinent. Barcola has already achieved huge success in his career - delivering the piece de la resistance European trophy at PSG not once, but twice in successive years. But did he make his mark on that PSG success story compared to others?

Barcola was often used as the 'back-up guy' in Luis Enrique's set-up. The French winger was a regular in domestic football, which helped delivered league titles - but when it came to the big Champions League ties against the best of the best, he often had to settle for the bench.

Given his competition was Ousmane Dembele, Kvicha Kvarasthkelia and Desire Doue ahead of Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha and Joao Neves, there's no shame in that. But it explained why he rejected a new contract at the club, pushed for a new challenge and eventually moved on.

"For me, it was the right time to leave PSG," he recalls. "I spent so many great years there and I won an enormous amount of trophies. But it was time.

"It was quite difficult because, over there, it was a real family. We'd built something very special together. On top of that, it was very difficult to leave and say goodbye to my team-mates. But ultimately, that's just how football is.

"When a club like Liverpool comes calling, it's a great thing. I didn't have any doubts and I just knew I had to come here. I'm happy to be here, and I hope things go well for PSG."

Barcola basically won it all at PSG last season - but at Liverpool there may need to be a bit more patience. Andoni Iraola has clearly improved the Reds off the back of Arne Slot's flawed final year, but defeats to Man City and Arsenal at Anfield have shown how far they are from the elite.

The weekend's 1-0 loss to Arsenal saw Liverpool fail to register a shot on target at home for the first time since Premier League data records began. They sit second-bottom in the Premier League this season for big chances created. If Arsenal are the level required, Liverpool have work to do.

So do expectations need to be tempered now? "No, I don't think it has changed the goals for the season," Barcola says. "I think we should have done better in a game like this. We had the chances to score, even to win the match.

"I think we need to work on being able to control the game more and play more football. Often, when we're in a game like this, we resort to long balls. But in my opinion, we should try to keep the ball on the ground more, because we have players with the quality to do that.

"We were really disappointed after the game but we know what we have to do better at. We're not going to give up. We know that other teams will drop points. So it's down to us to remain consistent until the end of the season."

In that case, Barcola and his team-mates need to get back on that training pitch. There's work to be done.