One of the biggest transfer rumors this summer was the potential transfer of Phillipe Coutinho. The Brazilian star was coming off a huge year for Liverpool, and FC Barcelona wanted him as the long-term replacement for Neymar. However, both parties could not agree to a deal. As a result, the former Inter star remained at Anfield, while Barca opted to sign Ousmane Dembele instead.
But 2018 arrived, and with that, the January transfer window came. It’s a golden opportunity for teams who want to strengthen their squad, and it is believed that Barca will once again target Coutinho. And they are reportedly willing to pay “whatever it takes” to land their man.
We will probably have to wait the entire month to see whether Los Blaugranas sign the Brazil international. But one thing is certain. If Liverpool do not want to damage the chemistry of the squad, they should sell Coutinho to Barcelona.
First of all, the player is eager to leave. In fact, it is believed that the playmaker does not want to play for Liverpool anymore. In fact, he sat out the last game to avoid a potential injury. But that is just mere speculation.
Barcelona are keen to sign him, too, and they would offer a massive sum to land him. It has been reported that Los Blaugranas are considering a £130 million move for Coutinho. Translated into U.S. money, that’s almost $177M. That amount would make him one of the most expensive players in the world, but there is no question he would fit perfectly at Barca. Can you imagine a society between Coutinho and Lionel Messi? What if we add Dembele to the mix as well? At the very least, Coutinho has enough talent to settle nicely at the Camp Nou Stadium.
Coutinho does far more than scoring or assisting, though. Take a look at some of his best tricks during the current season:
As if that wasn’t enough, keeping on the team doesn’t really help Liverpool. He is no longer the top player on the squad, and Mohamed Salah can easily take over that role. And considering The Reds do not have a realistic chance to win the Premier League title, maybe they could use the money to bolster other areas of the squad. Despite the fact they have Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, The Reds could use a “real” striker, another central midfielder, and a bit more coverage on defense, too. Virgil van Dijk should bolster the back line, but Liverpool needs full-backs, too.
Sending Coutinho to Barca is a win-win for everybody. But now we will see whether The Reds decide to pull the trigger on the move. But knowing the history between both clubs, we might be talking about this during the entire month of January.