Philippe Coutinho is the biggest flop that FC Barcelona have signed in recent times. The €120+40 million that the Camp Nou giants forked out for the Brazilian international in January 2018 made him the most expensive player in our club’s history – which, in hindsight, was a costly mistake.
Coutinho was excellent at Liverpool, running the team’s attack and always able to contribute in spectacular fashion. The Brazilian’s 12 goals in 20 appearances from midfield in the first half of the 2017/18 season made him look like a safe bet, which is why, as I discussed time and time again at The Barcelona Podcast, actually made me support Barcelona’s decision to go after him midseason.
However, it was always clear that paying €120+40 million for Coutinho was excessive, an obscene amount of cash that the vast majority of clubs around the world would be able to use for the best part of a decade.
Always unable to shake his price-tag off, the newly arrived Coutinho failed to adapt to the Barcelona system, or become the next Andres Iniesta, despite being given plenty of opportunities. Although he had the almost unconditional support of dressing room heavyweights Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, he was never able to fully show his undeniable skills.
Whether he was deployed as an interior or a left winger with freedom to drift towards the middle, Coutinho was never able to fully convince the Camp Nou faithful. Often criticised for lacking commitment and not being proactive enough defensively, the Brazilian found himself trapped in a downwards spiral that affected his confidence.
As we discussed at The Barcelona Podcast at the time, Coutinho’s decision to disrespect the Camp Nou faithful after scoring against Manchester United was a step too far, the final nail in his Blaugrana coffin.
Coutinho’s unjustifiable and unprofessional behaviour, together with his obvious lack of impact when analysed together with his price-tag, meant that the Barcelona coaching staff and board decided to cut their losses and ship him elsewhere – with Bayern Munich ultimately agreeing to pay a season loan-fee of €8.5M plus his wages in full after just 18 months at the Camp Nou.
After just one season in Germany, however, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told German magazine Der Spiegel: “The option expired and we haven’t activated it. We’re going to plan our squad for next season and we’ll see if he still has a role to play with us or not.”
In other words, here’s another huge club who is unconvinced by Coutinho and, unfortunately for Barca, will not be taking up the option of making his loan deal permanent.
Given the situation, the UK media reports that many Premier League clubs including Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham and even Newcastle are willing to hire Coutinho despite his, let say this mildly, below-expectation performances in the last three seasons.
Barca would see a potential sale as a beneficial move, even if that meant slashing his transfer fee to almost half of what the Catalans paid for his services in January 2018.
Personally, I would expect the Camp Nou giants to settle for no less than €75M, with the largest benefit for Barca being no longer having to pay Coutinho’s asburd wage, believed to be €15M a year.
Offloading the Brazilian would give the Blaugranas enough space in their books to be in a far better position to sign either Neymar or Lautaro Martinez this summer – two players who would immediately improve our squad significantly.
In a summer in which the football transfer market will undoubtedly be affected by the consequences of the unprecedented worldwide pandemic we are currently stuck in the middle of, being able to cash in for underperforming players is crucial – and Coutinho is certainly not alone in this category at Barcelona.
In our latest The Barcelona Podcast, we discuss the list of players who Barca should be selling, loaning and buying this summer – Listen now:
