Philippe Coutinho‘s future is increasingly looking likely to lie away from Barcelona. Coutinho started the season as apparently an important element to Ronald Koeman‘s new-look side but an early injury hampered his progress.
Pedri, for example, really stepped up in his absence, with the Brazilian unable to impress or dominate when he made his return.
According to Diario Sport, a clause has come to light from Coutinho’s initial transfer to Barcelona from Liverpool that may inject greater impetus into making a transfer happen this January.
Once Coutinho reaches 100 appearances for the club they’ll have to pay Liverpool an additional €20m. At the time of writing he’s just ten games away from hitting that number.
The idea of avoiding fulfilling that clause has given Barcelona greater urgency to execute a move they were considering anyway. Coutinho is one of the highest earners in the squad but his financial status doesn’t match his contribution on the pitch.
Barcelona are also looking to tighten their belt given the financial issues inspired by the Coronavirus pandemic and are looking to free up funds to bring in reinforcements this January. All of these factors are colliding to point to an imminent exit for the Brazilian.
