Two-and-a-half years after Philippe Coutinho's big money move from Liverpool to Barcelona, reports from Spain have claimed that the La Liga giants have proposed the idea of the playmaker returning to Anfield in a bid to pay off the remaining debt they owe the Reds.
Coutinho joined Barcelona in January 2018 for an initial £105m fee, with the club committing to pay a total sum of £142m for the Brazilian international.
Barcelona's most recent economic report, published last October, showed that Liverpool were still owed £35.5m for Coutinho.
It was also noted in the report that "Liverpool Football Club has factored with a financial institution its right to collection."
What this means is that, although Barcelona have not yet paid Liverpool the money, they have already received that cash by selling the debt on to a "financial institution".
In fact, it is noted that Bordeaux, Gremio, Valencia, Ajax, Atletico Mineiro and Palmeiras have all done the same thing over the deals for Malcom, Arthur, Neto, Frenkie De Jong, Emerson and Matheus Fernandes.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, football finance expert Kieran Maguire explained: "It is fairly common to have these things done in business.
"Barcelona still technically owe the money to Liverpool, that is why is shows up as such in the accounts, but what happens is that the money is paid and Liverpool then send that on to the third party who has bought the debt.
"Liverpool have received all the money owed for Coutinho, but Barcelona have not yet paid it all.
"While it is all fairly normal practice there is some question over what happens if Barcelona default on their payments, how will that impact Liverpool? That would be down to the terms of the deal with the third party."
Coutinho has also been linked with a shock move to Merseyside rivals Everton and former Liverpool winger Steve McManaman has said he would "love" to see the Brazilian back in the Premier League, even if that means playing for the Toffees.
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"You know he’s not playing at the moment for Barcelona, and you’d like him to play because of what we’ve seen before and he’s great to watch," McManaman told HorseRacing.net.
"I would be astounded if Everton could do the deal and pay his wages, unless he takes a monumental pay cut and Barcelona might have to take a huge hit on their transfer fee.
"He’s a fantastic player and he’s not playing enough in Spain, and he didn’t play enough last year when he won the Champions League at Bayern Munich.
"So it would be nice to see him make a move - he needs to play football and if that’s with Everton, great.
"Like James Rodriguez, those are type of players you want to see.
"A lot of my mates are Evertonians, I’ve got nephews that are Everton season ticket holders, if you’ve got those type of players who can produce that type of magic, I’d love to see him here, back in the city of Liverpool playing for the Blues."
