Sports
0

Brazil’s Coutinho Finally Moves to Barcelona

Barcelona has brought in the player despite him not being eligible for the Champions League this season, having already been fielded by Liverpool
Brazil’s Coutinho Finally Moves to Barcelona
Brazil’s Coutinho Finally Moves to Barcelona

After half a season of long debates Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho finally made the move from Liverpool in Premier League to Barcelona in La Liga on January 6 with €160 million ($192 million) to be the second expensive transfer in football history.

Coutinho was linked with the transfer since the transfer window of July 2017, but club managers of Liverpool and Barca could not come to an agreement over the transfer, Marca reported.

Coutinho has signed for Barcelona in a five year deal, the Catalan club has confirmed, with the fee believed to be 160 million euros.

His transfer is the second most expensive one after Neymar’s move to Paris Saint-Germain.

However, the Brazilian will in fact become the third most expensive when PSG makes official signing of Mbappe from Monaco for 180 million euros at the end of this season, with the player having initially moved on loan.

The Brazilian is expected to be presented at the Camp Nou on Monday, which will conclude a transfer saga that dragged on throughout last summer with Liverpool that said would not allow the key creative midfielder to leave.

Coutinho did put in a transfer request but it did not sway the Liverpool board but now the persistence of Barcelona and the player has seen the move finally come to fruition. Barcelona has brought in the player despite him not being eligible for the Champions League this season, having already been fielded by Liverpool.

The arrival gives Ernesto Valverde a number of options for his system and his team with both Coutinho and the return of Dembele.

An option for Valverde is to stick with the 4-4-2 he has deployed early on in this campaign, as worked so successfully in the Clasico on December 23.

There, Coutinho could play at the tip of a diamond behind Messi and Suarez, with Iniesta alongside Rakitic or Paulinho in a deeper role. That would mean a loss of physicality, and it would also mean that Dembele would be little more than a substitute.

Also in a 4-3-3, there is the possibility that Coutinho is the one to replace Neymar on the left of a front three.

Add new comment

Read our comment policy before posting your viewpoints

Financialtribune.com