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Four years ago to the day, Philippe Coutinho joined Barcelona from Liverpool in a record £142 million deal. The Brazilian winger failed to live up to that astronomical transfer sum and his years at Barcelona have come to represent the culture of excess that sent the club into financial turmoil. Philippe Coutinho has made 106 appearances for Blaugrana in all competitions, scoring 25 goals and assisting another 14.
The 29-year-old will be returning to the Premier League after Barcelona agreed to loan him to Aston Villa for the rest of the season.
Philippe Coutinho at Liverpool
Before he joined Barcelona, Philippe Coutinho was Liverpool's talisman. For at least a couple of years in the middle of the last decade, the winger was one of the best players in the Premier League. The trickery, the Brazilian flair, and the curlers from outside the box had not only become commonplace but also had sort of become his trademarks.
He carried what was a rather ordinary Liverpool side in those years. Philippe Coutinho scored 54 goals and registered 45 assists for the Reds in 201 appearances across competitions.
Philippe Coutinho's record move to Barcelona
Neymar's transfer to PSG and Andres Iniesta's pending departure forced Barcelona to go all-in for the Liverpool winger in the January transfer window of the 2016-17 season. Liverpool didn't want to sell, but the lure of Barcelona and the massive deal involved made it happen. Barcelona were desperate to replace Neymar quickly and were ready to splurge, their pockets heavy from Neymar's sale.
Barca paid a whopping £142 million for the Brazilian, making him their most expensive and the world's third most expensive transfer ever.
At Barcelona, Philippe Coutinho started with a bang. Alternating between an advanced midfield role and the left wing, the Brazilian was immense. He racked up 13 goal contributions in 16 games in the second half of the season as Barcelona coasted to the title. There was cause for optimism. However, this is where things started going wrong.
In his first full season, Barca again won the title with ease but Coutinho struggled. More often than not he failed to get into games. He looked like a bystander as matches passed him by. There were matches where he looked good, like the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Manchester United, but those were few and far between.
Philippe Coutinho's loan move to Bayern Munich
Barcelona decided to loan Coutinho to Bayern Munich for the 2019-20 season, hoping he would rediscover his mojo. At Bayern, Coutinho's output saw a slight uptick as he registered 11 goals and 9 assists.
He had moments like a wonderful hat-trick against Schalke, but most of the time he was rather average. Unfortunately for Barca, one of his best matches of the season came against them, as he scored twice and set up another as a substitute in Bayern's historic 8-2 drubbing of Barcelona in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
In 2020, he returned to the Catalan giants but barely played as an injury in November ruled him out for the entire season. Although Coutinho has been available for most of this season, he hasn't played that often under both Ronald Koeman and Xavi. Even when he has played, he has been unremarkable. In 16 appearances for the club across competitions, Coutinho has managed to score only twice.
Barcelona have thus opted to loan him out to Aston Villa and offload his high wages from their books. Coutinho also needs to play regularly to feature in this year's World Cup. Hence he has opted to join his former teammate Steven Gerrard, who now manages Aston Villa.
Overall, on paper, 39 goal contributions in 106 games for Barcelona, winning two La Liga titles, two Copa del Reys and a Supercopa de Espana, isn't a terrible haul. He even won the treble while on loan at Bayern. But that's where stats don't reveal the entire picture.
Coutinho's move to Barcelona will go down as one of the worst transfers in football history. Not only did he ruin his legacy at Liverpool, where he was much loved, he also derailed his career. From Barcelona's perspective, his transfer fee accentuated their economic hardships and his high wages played a part in Lionel Messi's departure in 2021.
From a sporting perspective, Barcelona didn't win the Champions League while they had Coutinho, but Bayern did when he was on loan at the German giants. Liverpool also went on to win Europe's top prize in 2019. Liverpool's triumph came after they bought Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker from the money they received for Coutinho's transfer.
All things considered, this move has been a nightmare for both Barcelona and Coutinho and a parting of ways will be better for both.
