- New €150m bid from Barcelona for Liverpool ace Coutinho
- Reports in Spain claim when the deal could be completed
- Also suggests that the Brazilian has an agreement on personal terms since summer
- READ MORE: ‘Total disrespect’ – Liverpool fans furious as they react to Nike leak on Coutinho
Could we finally be reaching the end of the Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona saga? Reports in Spain are suggesting that he could be close to a move.
It won’t make pleasant reading for Liverpool fans, but they’ve had to deal with a lot over the past six months amid constant speculation of a move away from Anfield for their prized asset.
As per BBC Sport, the Catalan giants had three bids rejected over the summer, while the tweet below shows the latest controversial storm that the move created after Nike released a promo suggesting the Brazilian playmaker was Nou Camp bound.
A screen grab in English too of Nike describing Philippe Coutinho as a Barcelona player. pic.twitter.com/zA9stTQsEI
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 31, 2017
There are several reasons to doubt why a January move would happen in truth, from Barcelona not being able to play Coutinho in the Champions League as he’s cup-tied to Liverpool simply not wanting to sell one of their best players midway through the campaign.
The 25-year-old has been in fine form so far this season, scoring 12 goals and providing nine assists in 20 appearances in all competition, with Jurgen Klopp’s men flying right now and pushing to make a real mark on this season.
However, as noted by Mundo Deportivo, that is not a sentiment shared by reports in Spain as it’s claimed that a fresh €150m bid will be made for Coutinho, made up of an initial €110m payment with €40m in add-ons.
Further, it’s claimed that ‘various sources are confident’ that the deal can be completed by next week, which suggests that we could be seeing a conclusion to the matter in the near future.
It’s worth noting that there is no mention of Liverpool accepting this new offer, and so there is no guarantee that we are actually moving towards a transfer going through as that has always been the main stumbling block in the move.
Meanwhile, if that wasn’t enough to concern Liverpool fans though, AS are reporting that Coutinho still has an agreement on personal terms from the summer and will ink a five-year contract once the Reds sign off on the transfer.
Barca are well on course to win major honours this season as they have a nine-point lead in La Liga, have advanced to the Champions League knockout stage and are still in the Copa del Rey.
In turn, it’s questionable as to whether they want to risk disrupting the balance in the side in January with a big-name signing, but a player like Coutinho will surely only improve them even if only domestically for the next six months.