What’s the story?
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that the club do not plan to allow Philippe Coutinho to leave for one of the big two clubs in the Spanish La Liga. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona have been linked with the Brazilian midfielder but Klopp has laid to rest any doubts over a possible transfer.
“We never had any ideas or plans or any talks about him leaving, because he is our player,” Klopp said. “There are no other ideas, nothing has changed.
“It would be nice if big clubs forgot about a player completely because he's been injured for five or six weeks,” he continued. “Big clubs don't think in this way, unfortunately. It was not a big injury so there was no question of him not being the same player afterwards.”
In case you didn’t know...
Coutinho has been out of action for the Anfield club since the end of November. The 24-year-old attacking midfielder suffered an ankle injury half-an-hour into a league game against Sunderland and Klopp had said at the time that he would need at least five to six weeks to recover.
Both Real Madrid and Barcelona were linked with the Premier League star after having scored six goals and five assists prior to his injury.
The heart of the matter
Coutinho has a contract with Liverpool until the end of the 2019/20 season. In fact, he had signed a contract extension only last February.
His current transfer market value is £35m, but with so many years left on his contract, and the fact that it is Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two clubs will have to pay in excess of £50m if they are to convince the English club to even consider selling him.
What’s next?
Klopp is confident Coutinho will stay but a number of Premier League stars have been coerced to join the La Liga sides in the past. However, a winter transfer is very unlikely and the clubs will have to try again in the summer.
As far as Coutinho’s return from injury is concerned, Klopp revealed that if he is unfit for the EFL Cup semi-final against Southampton, he would have three more days to recover before they faced Manchester United in the league on Sunday.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Other Premier League stars such as Cesc Fabregas and Luka Modric did leave England when Barcelona and Real Madrid came calling. It would be hard for Coutinho to reject a move if one of the two clubs come in with a substantial bid. The Brazilian would be making a step up to a bigger club and also increase his wages in the process.
However, he is flourishing under Klopp at the moment and his system gives him the freedom to express himself on the pitch. Coutinho would do well to give Liverpool a year or two, qualify for and play in the Champions League and then take a call on his future.
