One of football’s longest-running sagas may finally be coming to an end.
Barcelona have reportedly taken a huge step towards signing Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool. According to Spanish news outlet Sport, the Catalan giants have agreed a fee of €150 million which, if true, would make it the second most expensive transfer of all time, after Neymar’s switch from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.
According to the report, the Brazilian will make the switch to the Camp Nou in January and sign a five-year contract worth nearly €12m-a-year.
Coutinho is Barcelona’s prime transfer target and courted him throughout the summer. The midfielder expressed his desire to leave Liverpool, even handing in a transfer request in an attempt to force through the move. However, the Reds managed to keep hold of him, but speculation surrounding his long-term future at Anfield has refused to go away.
This is it. Sport have gone all out.
‘Agreement reached’ for Coutinho to Barcelona, €150m to be paid in instalments, €12m/year contracthttps://t.co/mJkPH13T6F #LFC pic.twitter.com/7mnAzB106K
— Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness) December 20, 2017
Liverpool rejected multiple offers from Barcelona in the summer and stood firm, insisting that Coutinho was not for sale. Coutinho is under contract at Liverpool until 2022 and selling him in the middle of the season would only hurt the Premier League club.
Barcelona spent a similar fee to sign Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele in the summer but the Catalan giants are keen to further bolster their attacking ranks. The club has also been heavily linked with Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann but that deal may have hit a snag with Atletico reportedly lodging an official complaint to FIFA over Barcelona tapping-up the Frenchman.
With those developments, it seems as though Barcelona have once again set their sights on Coutinho and it will be interesting to see if Liverpool can hold on to him if the La Liga club come calling.
However, it seems like Coutinho’s dream is to play for Barcelona and, while Liverpool fans don’t want to see him follow Suarez’s path and join Barca, it may be time to fulfill the player’s wish and explore replacements with the enormous bundle of cash they will get for selling him.
Signing a replacement of Coutinho’s quality will be troublesome in January, but with Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in their ranks, they are still well-stocked in terms of goals and creativity.
As difficult as it will be to see him go, it may be time to let Coutinho leave.
