Jurgen Klopp said on Thursday that he expects Philippe Coutinho to be ready for Liverpool's game against Manchester City on January 14th.
However, most Liverpool fans expect the Brazilian to be a Barcelona player by the time City to come to Anfield next Sunday. Coutinho missed Liverpool's 2-1 win over Burnley on New Year's Day, and will miss the FA Cup tie with Everton on Friday with a "thigh injury." He is yet to play a single game this season while the transfer window has been open - missing all of his team's matches in August and so far this month.
Coutinho clearly wants to leave, and the Catalan club are reportedly preparing a £140m bid for him. However, before any bid arrives, and a deal agreed, one aspect of the situation makes no sense at all - why are Barcelona so keen on signing Coutinho this month, rather than just wait until the summer?
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/949068007522947072
As summarised
here, Barcelona really don't need the player this season because they're nine points clear at the top of La Liga and Coutinho is ineligible to play for them in the Champions League.
There are also several obstacles to completing the deal this month. Liverpool proved that they won't be bullied when they rejected three bids for the 25-year-old last summer. Coutinho has four years remaining on his contract with no buy-out clause, and he can't just stop playing for Liverpool in protest or he'll jeopardise his place in Brazil's World Cup team.
When you add up these factors, it's difficult to see Coutinho joining Barcelona this month, and it's difficult to understand why the La Liga club don't just wait until the summer to try to sign the player. According to Miguel Delaney of
The Independent, there are three reasons why Barcelona want to complete the deal now, and not at the end of the season.
According to the report:
- Coutinho is desperate to leave. He is "intent on the deal now, and some of this is obviously Barca wanting to act on that great desire and have a future star as happy as possible."
- Barcelona are worried his price will increase after the World Cup, and money is a concern for the club after they spent £96.8m, rising to a potential £135.5m, on Ousmane Dembele last summer. They also renewed Lionel Messi's contract recently, and are strongly linked with a summer move for Antoine Griezmann.
- They view the player as the long-term successor to Andreas Iniesta, and feel they could keep the Spanish midfielder fresh for the Champions League games if they sign Coutinho now, and use him for league matches. The Brazilian would be cup-tied for Barcelona's European games if he joined this season.
However, the report states that Liverpool's owners will not be bullied on the matter - "The pure businessman in John W Henry is said to almost take such impositions as an affront" - and any deal will be completed on their terms.
