One of the players Xavi has decided won’t be part of his Barcelona is Philippe Coutinho. The Brazilian has failed to impress at Camp Nou since he joined from Liverpool in January 2018 as the most expensive signing in the club’s history, and earns a salary in the region of €22m per season despite contributing little.
Barcelona are desperate to move on the Brazilian, and it’s a return to the Premier League that seems to be his likeliest destination. But not just to Liverpool – Newcastle and Everton have emerged as potential suitors according to Mundo Deportivo and Diario AS.
The appointment of Rafa Benitez shows that the powers-that-be at Everton don’t care about hiring individuals with a past at their great rivals Liverpool, and their current sporting situation means that they have to take gambles on players at a low ebb.
And Coutinho is most certainly at a low ebb. He spent all of last season at Barcelona under Ronald Koeman, but failed to perform with any kind of consistency. He’s accumulated 608 minutes across 16 matches this season under both Koeman and Xavi, but is consistently being overlooked in favour of unproven teenagers. His days at Camp Nou appear to be numbered.
… to end FC Barcelona’s Coutinho nightmare.
Barcelona kept its end of the deal, payed the transfer fee, the astronomical salary, the variables, etc. What it got in exchange from Coutinho was peanuts.
This is a type of “journalism” the english tabloids would be proud of. Too bad it’s not in print, I would be best fit for my bird cage…
The powers-that-be in Everton may not wish to confront their irate fanbase once again who were incensed at the hiring of Benitez and the team’s lacklustre performance has proven them correct. To bring in Coutinho at this point in time with his poor form and astronomical salary could send fans off the deep-end.
The logical destination would be Newcastle. Deep Saudi pockets, a limited market in the winter transfer window and the team currently mired in the relegation zone is the recipe for desperation moves on Newcastle’s part.
Even just a loan with Barcelona picking up a big chunk of Coutinho’s 400,000 weekly salary provides the financial wiggle room for Ferran Torres’ arrival in Catalonia since his transfer fee payments would not begin until the summer.