When it comes to Philippe Coutinho’s loan to Bayern Munich, there are winners and losers. The winner is Bayern Munich, clearly. They gained a bench player that has played a minor role for the club this season, added depth and creativity off the bench, and they aren’t obligated to purchase him now. Moreover, he’s still available to get some revenge against his parent club in the Champions League.
But why is that? Why was Coutinho’s loan extended to the end of the Champions League campaign? Why was it not ended on June 30th like the loans Juan Miranda, Jean-Clair Todibo, Oriol Busquets, etc.? The first notion may be that Barcelona are hoping that the Brazilian will show enough in the Champions League to maybe get a sale to a watching suitor, or more likely pad the loan price for next season. The second possibility is that Coutinho was always slated to play the UCL campaign with Bayern Munich pre-Covid and there wasn’t anything Barcelona could do about it now. The main reason is that UEFA is not Spain, where a potential “Fear Clause” may have prevented Coutinho from playing against his parent club in head-to-head fixtures.
For this reason, it feels like both Coutinho and Barcelona are losers in the arrangement. The club did make a small fee on the loan this season, but it doesn’t seem like the player is any closer from being moved on for good due to the uncertainty in the market. The player is linked to clubs like Arsenal for a loan, but the 28-year-old assuredly cannot be happy about playing through his prime without a permanent home.
The Coutinho business is shocking, but he’s probably not the Bayern Munich player that Barcelona need to worry about the most. For the full preview of the Champions League fixture, check out the latest edition of The Barcelona Podcast.
Dan Hilton is an American journalist, broadcaster, and current Editor-in-Chief of BarcaBlog. Extensive work as a play-by-play broadcaster, producer behind the scenes, and quite average player in his younger years has given him a well-rounded and informative perspective on the sport. Alongside BarcaBlog founder Francesc, Dan started The Barcelona Podcast in 2017.
