A viral photograph depicting French international footballer Bradley Barcola wearing a Liverpool kit as a child is a fake generated by artificial intelligence.
The image circulated across social media platforms following the announcement that the winger had transferred from Paris Saint-Germain to Liverpool at the end of the transfer window. The deal, which could reach 145 million euros, established a new record for the sale of a Ligue 1 player to an overseas club. Transfer windows are the designated registration periods during which professional football clubs buy and sell players.
In the wake of the move, several social media accounts specializing in football published the picture as evidence that the player had supported the English club since childhood. One widely shared post featuring the photo included a caption encouraging followers to always believe in their dreams, accumulating 1.6 million views.
Kit timeline reveals anomaly
Football supporters quickly noticed an inconsistency in the viral image. The jersey worn by the young boy in the picture is Liverpool's official home kit for the 2004-2005 football season.
Barcola was born in September 2002, meaning he was only two years old during that campaign. Analysts noted that it was virtually impossible for him to have posed for the photograph in that kit at that age.
Liverpool Football Club, based in North West England, compete in the English Premier League and play home matches at Anfield. Paris Saint-Germain, based at the Parc des Princes in Paris, compete in France's Ligue 1. High-profile transfers between major European clubs frequently trigger intense online speculation and viral social media posts.
Original photo found on Instagram
A reverse image search located the authentic photograph, which Barcola originally published on his official Instagram account in July 2023.
The original picture shows the player as a youth wearing the shirt of Olympique Lyonnais, the French club where he developed as a youth player. Barcola posted the photo as a farewell message to supporters when he was finalizing his transfer from Lyon to Paris Saint-Germain.
Olympique Lyonnais, based in Lyon in eastern France and commonly known as Les Gones, is famous across European football for its youth academy system. The club won seven consecutive French league titles during the 2000s and has produced numerous international stars.
Google AI detector confirmation
A forensic analysis using Google detection tools confirmed that the circulating image was generated using artificial intelligence software created by the American technology company.
Generative artificial intelligence tools allow users to modify digital photographs or synthesize entirely new images from textual descriptions by analyzing digital patterns. Fact-checking organizations routinely utilize specialized verification algorithms to identify synthetic images and manipulated media shared online.
The investigation was published by Les Vérificateurs, the fact-checking division of French television network TF1 and news channel LCI. Readers can submit unverified claims or information requests to the verification team by email at [email protected] or via X at @verif_TF1LCI.
