Philippe Coutinho described Barcelona as a ‘place of magic’ after completing his dream move away from Liverpool two years ago.
The Brazilian playmaker - an £8.5million signing from Inter Milan in 2013 - was sold for £142million and followed Luis Suarez to the Camp Nou from Anfield.
It’s the biggest fee Liverpool have received for a player and the money was immediately reinvested to sign Virgil van Dijk, Allsson and Fabinho, among others, all players who were pivotal in the club’s run to becoming champions of the world.
Within six months of Coutinho’s departure Liverpool had reached their first Champions League final in more than a decade. The Reds won the competition the following year and are now just two wins away from a first Premier League crown in 30 years.
While Liverpool’s trajectory continues along an upward curve, Coutinho’s magic deserted him in Barcelona.
He only scored 21 goals in 76 appearances for Barcelona before losing his place in Ernesto Valverde’s starting XI. Barca have since shipped him out to Bayern Munich on loan, where he’s by no means a guaranteed starter under Hans-Dieter Flick.
Bayern have the option to buy Coutinho for £109million this summer but it’s looking increasingly unlikely that they’ll take Barcelona up on that offer.
Coutinho has been linked with Manchester United and Chelsea, while there could be a route back in at Barcelona with Valverde out of the picture and Quique Setién now at the helm, though his future is far from certain.
If Barcelona decide to offload Coutinho this summer they will be forced to take a huge loss on the fee Liverpool commanded two years ago.
Coutinho, who turns 28 in June, is now valued at £63million by Transfermarkt, while CIES rates him at £65-85million.
Although it didn’t feel like it at the time, Liverpool picked the perfect moment to cash in on Coutinho and have reaped the rewards ever since.
