Philippe Coutinho became Barcelona’s most expensive signing in January 2018 as the Catalan club agreed a deal with Liverpool worth €120m and a potential payment of €40m as add-ons.
The Brazil international failed to impress for the La Liga side in his first 18 months, which is why he was loaned out to Bayern Munich last season, where he won the treble.
Ronald Koeman included the 28-year-old in his plans for this season, but the playmaker is yet to showcase his best version for the Camp Nou side.
The Dutch coach has preferred Pedri ahead of the former Liverpool star, after the 18-year-old arrived Las Palmas for €5m in the summer.
Sport on Friday claims the overall cost of the deal to sign Pedri could ‘exceed €10m’, and it’s a ‘sweet invoice’ for the Spanish giants, mainly because Barca ‘did not face with such enthusiasm the fact of seeing how the account was raised by a player’.
Taking into account the club’s poor economic conditions, this is ‘terrible news’ at the accounting level, and more so considering the ‘discreet performances’ given by the player.
AS also talks about Coutinho. They state he needs to be in contact with the ball a lot, and that makes him a ‘redundant footballer’ because he slows down the game.
The newspaper also echoes claims made by Sport, and adds Barca will have to pay €20m to Liverpool, if he makes 10 more appearances. An ‘impossible figure’, taking into account the club’s financial worries.
To sum it up, Coutinho’s signing has been a disaster for Barcelona and it could only get worse if he makes 10 more appearances as Koeman’s side will then have to pay €20m to Liverpool.
