It has recently been confirmed that Philippe Coutinho will not be playing for FC Barcelona next summer. Coutinho, a former Liverpool forward, transferred to Barcelona in 2018. It has now been announced that Coutinho will be on loan this summer for Bayern Munich. The German club has the option to buy the forward after the summer for about 120 million euros. It has been confirmed that Barcelona will sell Coutinho, but now the question is to who? Bayern Munich are at the top of the lists of bets, since Coutinho will be playing for them over the summer. But there are also rumors that multiple teams are trying to bring the Brazilian back to the Premier League, Liverpool among them.

Now would be as good a time as any to reflect on Coutinho’s best years at Liverpool. Coutinho signed to Liverpool in 2013 for 8.5 millions euros (he was sold to Barcelona for 160 million euros). Coutinho played a total of 152 league games for Liverpool and scored 41 goals (Premier League). Coutinho was a top player from the start, even coming in half way through the 2012/2013 season, scoring a goal in his first appearance for Liverpool. Coutinho’s best season was the 2016/2017 season, scoring 13 goals. Alongside the Coutinho was Luis Suarez. The dynamic of this duo was undeniable and one of the best.

Coutinho brought more than just goals to Liverpool. He was a playmaker. While playing for Liverpool, Coutinho had amazing dribbling skills and was quick on his feet. He was quick and agile. All of these traits resulted in Coutinho being nicknamed “Little Magician” by the Liverpool fans. During his time at Liverpool, Coutinho managed to hold the record for most Premier League goals scored outside the box, at a total of 19 (Premier League).

Rumor has it that Klopp did not want to sell Coutinho, but Liverpool were forced to financially. Coutinho’s time at Barcelona seemed off to a good start, as Coutinho was playing with arguably the best player in the world, Lionel Messi. Along side Messi was Luis Suarez, Coutinho’s old team mate. For as much excitement as Coutinho brought when transferring to Barcelona, the results were less exciting then they were for his ex-Liverpool teammate, Suarez. While Coutinho had great games, he did not have as much of an impact as expected. After his injury in the beginning of the 2019 season and Barcelona’s signing of Antoine Griezmann, it was expected that Coutinho’s days at Barcelona were numbered.

Barcelona announced that they were selling their player and he was going on loan to Bayern Munich in August of 2019. Although there are rumors that Liverpool wants their “Little Magician” back, Klopp has said that Liverpool does not have the money to buy Coutinho back, as the money the club received for him has already been spent on players like Virgil Van Dijk (Simpson).

Works Cited:

“Philippe Coutinho Profile, News & Stats: Premier League.” Profile, News & Stats | Premier League, www.premierleague.com/players/4525/Philippe-Coutinho/overview.

Simpson, Christopher. “Jurgen Klopp Says Liverpool ‘Could Not Afford’ to Bring Philippe Coutinho Back.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 20 Aug. 2019, bleacherreport.com/articles/2850323-jurgen-klopp-says-liverpool-could-not-afford-to-bring-philippe-coutinho-back.