It looks like Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will not be able to pass a day without reading or being asked about Philippe Coutinho. The Brazilian has been the newsmaker all through the summer and continues to hog the headlines as we move towards the January transfer window.
The German tactician has claimed (h/t TEAMtalk) that he has absolutely “no clue” if the Reds have a gentleman’s agreement with the Brazilian playmaker to allow him a future move to Barcelona.
Why all this noise? The Brazilian superstar was the subject of three failed bids from the Catalan giants this summer, with the Reds strongly resisting all offers from Spain.
However, it looks like Barcelona are not yet ready to accept defeat and plan to come back with more bids in the winter transfer window. There are suggestions that Coutinho has integrated back into the first-team squad at Liverpool only after being assured of a future move to Barcelona.
Klopp was asked about the informal agreement, if ever there was one, to allow him to leave next summer. There are rumours in the media that his situation could echo Luis Suarez’s career path, where the Uruguayan got a move to Barcelona almost behind the scenes!
“I’ve no clue. We will see. We don’t talk about things like this,” the Liverpool manager responded. “Can you imagine what it would be like if I said ‘yes we have an agreement’?
“In this moment, the 100 per cent truth is that nobody thinks about this. We don’t talk about it, why should we? In both cases it would not make sense – no, there is no agreement, yes, there is an agreement. It is not important in the moment. We have other moments when we have to talk about these things but not in October.”
Klopp, however, is more practical and believes that the club needs to put an environment in place to persuade his superstars to stay at the club and not have their heads turned by attention from other clubs.
“In general, as a club, we have to still create a situation where players want to be part of it with all they have,” said Klopp.
As a fan, I would like to come out and say strongly that Coutinho will stay at the club and Liverpool would resist any future offers from Barcelona in the winter transfer window. There is no doubt that the Brazilian has a move to the Catalan giants in his head and that could come back to itch him in the January transfer window.
Should the club leave all this and let Coutinho join Barcelona? Credit to the Brazilian for coming back to the club after the entire transfer saga and still perform at his best. It would be a disgrace to lose him but there is no point in hanging on to a player who wants to leave. For me, the club is more important than the player and I’m sure we can create more Coutinhos in the future.
https://youtu.be/Wa96_NTEm3I
