Barcelona’s defeat to Juventus this week was always going to lead to many transfer rumours in the Catalan press. The club didn’t win their first European Cup until 1992, and then had to wait until 2006 for the first of their four Champions League triumphs, but Barcelona is very much demanding of success at the highest level.
To get the club back to the top, Catalan newspaper Sport report there’ll be a ‘grand revolution’ of transfers this summer, focusing on quality rather than quantity. Philippe Coutinho is seen as a realistic target, and Sport report that, regardless of what Liverpool think, this could be the Brazilian’s final Premier League season.
Everton are brought in with Gerard Deulofeu, and he ticks several boxes. There’s been a worry that La Masia have let youngsters go too early which has seen Barcelona lose some identity. Part of that was sending Deulofeu to Everton, so him returning isn’t only signing a good player, but also a homegrown product, and he’d be relatively cheap at €12m.
Should Deulofeu go back to Barcelona via his release clause, Everton have a clause themselves meaning Barcelona have to keep him for a year. Then if they sell him, Everton get a large percentage.
Coutinho wouldn’t be quite so easy, and it would probably take the Brazilian kicking and screaming to facilitate a transfer. Jurgen Klopp won’t want a player who doesn’t want to be at Liverpool, so Coutinho would have to make that clear.
