Barcelona failed in their bid to sign Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool, even though they tried their best and lodged three bids at least. We rejected every single one of them including a £118million one for the 25-year-old Brazilian.
Coutinho has not played for us since the start of the season and even submitted a transfer request but FSG were unrelenting for a player that earns £150,000-a-week, after signing a new contract with us in January.
The Brazilian is reportedly ‘crestfallen’ at not having joined the La Liga side in the summer, according to the Express. But his ‘dream’ move could come true in the January window according to a few Spanish reports.
To make sure the move happens, Coutinho could decide to not play in the Champions League and ensure he can play for the Catalan side at least in the knockout stages of the competition. What makes it a little confusing is that we have already named him in the squad for the group stages and prying him away in January will be a herculean task for the La Liga side.
Speaking to reporters from Mundo Deportivo (as quoted by Express), Josep Bartomeu had this to say when asked if Coutinho would be playing for the Spanish side:
“I’m not talking about names. We’ll see.”
We even claimed that we did not put a price on Coutinho and that the player was never on sale to any club, however, Bartomeu stated that the Premier League side had put up a £183million price point on the 25-year-old.
“[It’s] True, we were asked 200 million [euros].”
While other clubs would be upset at not signing one of the best players in the Premier League, Barcelona don’t seem to be disappointed. Bartomeu was convinced that the deal can be made in the next window.
“Perhaps there was the need to bring one more player to round the template but before these prices and this inflation, in the end, has been decided not to pull forward the negotiation.
“Now [we have] to wait a few months until the window of January and if we see that it is necessary, to make the retouchings what it is.”
Losing Coutinho in January could see Naby Keita coming in according to a few reports but even still, we should stand firm and only sell the Brazilian when we want to.
What does seem likely is that Coutinho will be a Barcelona player next season and hopefully, he can give us one more brilliant season before moving to the La Liga giants, for a sizeable fee of course.
https://youtu.be/9OCYU1r4MXQ
