Coutinho
As the English transfer window closes an hour before midnight tomorrow, August 31, Barcelona are in desperation to conclude the Phillipe Coutinho deal with Liverpool for E120m and possibly strike for Paulo Dybala, 23, of Juventus, in addition.
Having successfully pulled Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund last week for E135.5 million, the Spanish giant hope they would be able to meet the deadline and salvage their fallen star with the exit of Neymar to French Paris St. Germain for a record E222 million euros.
Barcelona is jittery to cover their default forward line up of Lionel Messi, Suarez and Neymar, which made the team almost invincible for the past three seasons. With Barca ready to break the banks for Coutinho, Liverpool is softening its earlier hard stand since it too had decided to get some players in the event of Coutinho’s imminent departure from Anfield. In the event that they are unable to meet tomorrow’s deadline, Barca is eyeing a replacement in Monaco’s Thomas Lemar, 21, for a speculated E60 million, who Liverpool has also penciled down as possible replacement for Coutinho. The bid for the same player is seen by analyst as part of Barca’s game plan to force Liverpool’s hands. Owners of Liverpool, the Fenway Group have however rejected Barca’s clause in the increased fee of E118m, that is the money would be paid in full if Coutinho wins the Ballon D’or.
Confirming Barcelona’s move, technical director Robert Fernandez was quoted as saying at the weekend: “I won’t go into names but I admit that the club is working on the possibility of signing new players.”
