The vultures are apparently circling again.
After a temporary hiatus since they ensnared Luis Suarez and dragged him off to Catalonia, Barcelona are swirling now over their new prey – the delicate frame of ‘Little Magician’ Philippe Coutinho.
The Brazilian playmaker has been one of Liverpool’s shining lights since his arrival just over four years ago, and whereas he was previously thought ‘not ready’ for one of Spain’s ‘Big Two’, a supreme run of form earlier this season, along with the urgings of the aforementioned Suarez and international team-mate Neymar, appear to have convinced the Barca bigwigs that he is ready for the step up (step up being a sad but true reality of Liverpool’s current standing).
The Metro quotes Spanish papers going so far as to say Coutinho has already agreed to join the Catalan giants, but that the Reds are holding out for at least £76m, a similar haul to the one for Luis Suarez.
Let us hope that if it does happen, Liverpool invest the money in better buys than the likes of Mario Balotelli, Rickie Lambert, Lazar Markovic and Alberto Moreno…
The danger to Liverpool is realistic enough this time that several bookies have the move at only evens to happen, with the speculation even leading to an unusual denial from Jurgen Klopp.
‘When did he sign his new contract?’ asked Klopp, responding to a question about Coutinho’s future. Typically for him, when told it was January, he injected some humour: ‘With a £400 million clause!’
‘There are absolutely no plans [to sell him]’, continued Klopp, ‘nobody will leave without our say, so I am completely relaxed about this.’
As much as that makes us Liverpool fans feel slightly better, in pure, objective, business terms would £76m be good business for the club?
In total for Liverpool, Coutinho has scored 31 goals and sprinkled in 30 assists in 136 games; a very healthy return approaching either a goal or assist every other game. This belies some of his perceived inconsistency – while he frustratingly still goes missing for a run of games, when he’s hot he is unstoppable. A return like that is not easy to replace.
The Brazilian maestro started the season with a bang, netting twice in the 4-3 thriller over Fourth Place Trophy Kings Arsenal (yes fam). He then put one of his most consistent runs of form in a red shirt in; scoring three more times and laying on five assists over the course of seven games – truly world class numbers, not to mention the supreme quality of the goals he scores.
Then, just as he seemed in the form of his life, disaster struck. An ankle injury suffered in a 50-50 with Sunderland’s Didier Ndong ruled him out for nearly six weeks, and on his return the little magician looked a shadow of his early-season self.
It took him six appearances to register a contribution, and while it was a brilliant, controlled finish to remind fans of his ability, it was a mere consolation in a 3-1 loss to a Leicester City team providing an extreme example of the ‘new manager bounce’.
The Brazilian was then quiet again for a few games before hitting a vein of form more akin to his 2016 exploits, with a goal and an assist in a satisfyingly comfortable Merseyside Derby win, followed by three other goals in the space of four games, a reminder that just maybe, he was finally elevating himself into the world class bracket of player.
On a per-game basis, this is Coutinho’s best season so far for at Anfield with 11 goals and 8 assists in 34 appearances, validating Barcelona’s apparent decision to finally make their move.
On balance, I don’t believe Liverpool should contemplate selling Coutinho this summer, either as a footballing or as a business decision. Having turned a profit in the last summer window, there should be plenty of money available for Jurgen Klopp without having to sell (and offloading the likes of Sakho, Sturridge and Moreno should fetch at least £60m for starters); the Echo’s James Pearce was laughed at when he said there was £200m potentially available, but for Klopp to spend that much given the value of some of the outgoing players, is a distinct possibility.
On the pitch, Liverpool are clearly not too far away, as the league table currently demonstrates. All they are missing is a few more key pieces, requiring significant investment, to elevate themselves to competing with the likes of Chelsea at the top next season. The return of European football to Anfield next season, hopefully accompanied by the Champions League anthem, will also put extra demands on Klopp’s squad and two genuine options for every position will be a necessity.
Selling Philippe Coutinho now would only set all the above back; his departure would leave a massive hole to be filled when there are already gaping chasms in the defence, central midfield, out wide and up front that need urgent attention in the summer. He is also one of Klopp’s only true difference-makers, capable of conjuring something out of nothing even in a game where he has done little.
With five minutes left in a tight goalless draw, who else would we want the ball to fall to, in space around the edge of the box? Time and time again the Brazilian has earned crucial points for his team, not in the same manner or with the same consistency as his former captain, but points earned nonetheless.
As a business decision, it would also be a backwards step. Retaining Coutinho, and establishing the club as Champions League regulars again would be worth over £40m per season; not to mention his name sells more Liverpool shirts than any other.
In addition to this, he is still only 24 years old and arguably only just hitting his prime; the club could enjoy the benefits of some of his best years for at least another 2/3 seasons, and still earn a tidy sum if they then desired to sell at that point, with a squad in better shape and more able to cope with such a departure.
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No-one knows what is going on in the little maestro’s head, but the timing for some idiot to smash the window of Coutinho’s Porsche, the night of the club’s recent annual awards dinner could hardly have been worse – or will it prove to be a fitting metaphor for the shattered dreams of the Anfield faithful, as like Torres, Suarez and Sterling yet another star player departs?
