Liverpool transfer clause forcing Barcelona to pay £89m premium to sign Reds players expires

According to a report from Liverpool Echo, Barcelona are set to breathe a sigh of relief as a transfer clause that required them to pay a hefty €100m (£89m) premium along with the transfer fee to sign a Liverpool player has expired.

The clause was inserted by Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards back in 2018 when Barcelona raided Liverpool for Philippe Coutinho. The Brazilian playmaker was one of our top players at the time, but forced a move away to Camp Nou in January 2018, with the club making a handsome £142m in transfer fee – a British record.

Edwards displayed his brilliance in negotiations by extracting a huge fee from Barcelona, which was smartly invested in players like Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker, who have been huge hits at the club.

Edwards also took measures to ensure the Catalans did not raid Liverpool for another player in the immediate future by inserting a stipulation that Barcelona would have to pay an additional €100m (£89m) premium if they were to sign any other player from our club before 2020. (h/t Liverpool Echo)

While Barcelona were unhappy with the clause, they were forced to agree to the terms given their desperation to land Coutinho. Things hardly went to plan for the Blaugrana and Coutinho, with the Brazilian struggling to make the kind of impact that was expected of him.

Coutinho was shipped out on loan to Bayern Munich last summer where he has once again been unable to reach the heights that he did during his time at Liverpool.

Philippe Coutinho at Barcelona — Philippe Coutinho has struggled at Barcelona

Now that the clause has run out, Barcelona may once again cast admiring glances towards the Liverpool squad that won the UEFA Champions League last season and look set for their maiden Premier League title triumph.

Barcelona, at some point in the past, have been linked with Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. With the £89m clause void, they might consider rekindling their interest in our star players. (h/t Liverpool Echo)

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However, given the meteoric rise that Jurgen Klopp & co. have enjoyed over the past couple of seasons, the Catalans would find it hard to convince our best players to trade clubs. More so looking at how Coutinho’s career has progressed since he made the switch to Catalonia.