Had Philippe Coutinho stuck to his initial stance of not trying to force a transfer away from Liverpool to Barcelona, then I think he’d still be a key figure at the club.

But as soon as reports surfaced via Coutinho’s family that the Brazilian was determined to leave, that he had fallen out with Jurgen Klopp and handed in a transfer request then I think the die was cast.

You then had the timely back injury that has so far kept him out of Liverpool’s first team squads this season.

Reports last night suggest that the creative talent wants to hold clear the air talks with the Reds hierarchy that could see him return to the side without any issues. Today has seen speculation that Barca will come in with a final bid worth £138m (£101m up-front).

I think the time is probably right for Liverpool to sell the international attacker.

The player clearly wants to leave Anfield and has had his head turned. You want members of the squad to be fully focused and committed to the team’s cause. Coutinho’s recent motives have been solely selfish and he’s been disrespectful to the club and the club’s well liked manager.

Coutinho is clearly a wonderfully talented footballer and Liverpool will miss him. Last season he produced seven assists and thirteen goals. In the bigger games he was very influential.

But with the signing of Mohammed Salah, Liverpool actually have a very strong, fluid and efficient attack that has bags of creativity.

The trio of Salah, Saido Mane and Roberto Firmino have all scored already this term (two Premier League games in). Firmino has also produced an assist, he’ll be the one that I’d imagine taking over from Coutinho in the creative stakes. They all seem to be interacting well together and producing scintillating attacking football.

Last term Coutinho and Sane missed various parts of the season, quite a lot of the fans in the Anfield stands felt that the side missed the Senegal forward more than their number ten.

You then have Daniel Sturridge, Divok Origi and new boy Dominic Solanke waiting in the sidelines for a chance to come in and lead the line.

Now Philippe could play slightly deeper and that’s maybe where Barca see him playing for them but with over £100m Liverpool could get another attacking midfielder and a centre-back.

I’m not convinced the Virgil van Dijk deal is dead and the Dutchman would certainly improve the Liverpool defence.

I think the chances of getting Naby Keita from RB Leipzig this summer are all but gone.

Maybe a deal could be done to bring in Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or if PSG care about Financial Fair Play then maybe they’d agree to sell Julian Draxler or Javier Pastore. If reports in Spain are to be believed then maybe Jean-Michael Seri is still up for grabs at Nice.

Listen Liverpool and jurgen Klopp have now known about this situation regarding Coutinho for a few weeks now. That’s enough time to come up with a replacement and more reinforcements.

If they get that £138m offer then I think they should accept it and move on. The player clearly wants to leave and let’s face it no player is bigger than the club. Get rid of the negativity and build a squad that has more balance and can challenge for the league title!

Posted on August 23rd, 2017 by scott
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