From Anfield to Camp Nou, Coutinho is not just a transfer.

Cairo – 23 August 2017: From Anfield to Camp Nou, Coutinho is not just a transfer

Philippe Coutinho Correia, the 25-year-old, the Little Magican as nicknamed by Liverpool fans, is now the man of hour in Merseyside, England. The all-time leading Brazilian goal scorer in Premier League history has been linked to leave the island and move to Catalonia, Spain.

Barcelona offered four different bids until now to get the archetypal Brazilian number 10 playmaker, and to be a replacement for the other Brazilian leaderm who moved to Paris Saint-Germain (most expensive transfer ever), Neymar da Silva.


"Liverpool are not going to sell Philippe", "Barcelona give up of Coutinho transfer", "Angry Coutinho handed a transfer request". For more than a month, we read a lot of news about this transfer and until now no one is sure about anything.
Liverpool have rejected a bid of 100 million euros (£90m) from Barcelona for Philippe Coutinho.
Barcelona's second bid for him, which was rejected immediately, comprised of an initial 85 million euros (£76.8m) plus 15m euros (£13.5m) in add-ons.
Liverpool have reiterated that Coutinho, who joined them from Inter Milan for £8.5m in 2013, is not for sale.



Coutinho at Liverpool, Reuters


According to SkySports, Craig Bellamy (Liverpool`s former legend) said, "Liverpool are going to stay firm, but it's still early in the transfer window, and how long can they stay firm for?"

He continues, "this is Coutinho, who has the opportunity to play with Lionel Messi, the best player to play football, to go to one of the best clubs in football. How can you look him in the eyes and tell him this isn't an improvement? To tell him this isn't what you deserve?"

This transfer, if happened, will work against Liverpool when stars such as Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane receive offers to leave (and the club anticipate that happening next summer). The Reds want to avoid a situation of "you let him leave, now you have to let us leave too."

Shareholders don`t want to repeat the old mistakes like Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano and Luis Suarez. Selling major stars weakened the team, and it was very difficult to reconstruct it again.



Brazil’s Philippe Coutinho celebrates after scoring a goal - REUTERS


On the other hand, Barcelona suffered after they could not stop the third best footballer in the world, Neymar, from leaving for Paris. Signing the French player, Ousmane Dembele, will not be the "Ship of Noah" for Barcelona. The same problems that appeared, since former coach Pep Guardiola left the club, still exist. Winning Copa del Rey only didn`t satisfy the fans; signing mediocre players infuriated them. Neymar’s departure was the last blow. They couldn`t stand it.

With only a few days left, all Barcelona can do for now is give a bigger offer if they want Philippe. But the reports said that Liverpool does not want to sit on the same table and negotiate about the Brazilian situation. And if they do sit, the same response is expected: Coutinho is not for sale — and don't come back with another bid.