After several stories, tweets and Whatsapp messages, the transfer window is finally over. (Huge sigh of relief.)
And no club generated more of those stories, tweets and messages than Liverpool and the never-ending Philippe Coutinho saga.
Reds fans were in near apoplexy on an hourly basis ever since it was first rumoured that the talented Brazilian was a Barcelona target back in July.
The story changed on a minute-by-minute basis with seemingly everyone in and out of world football having their own opinion on the never-ending story. You were just waiting for a tweet from Donald Trump to complete the circus.
There was even a popular YouTube parody to the tune of “Despacito” that had over 4 million hits. But finally on September 1 the window slammed shut, slicing off the fingers of a few Barca board members in the process.
There are two sides to every story and on one side Liverpool are adamant they never intended to sell their No10 while at the Camp Nou, Barcelona insiders are pushing the line that it was just the Anfield outfit’s greed that kept Coutinho away from his chosen destination.
But with all the gripe and hype finally dying down the real question is where to now for Liverpool, Coutinho and Barcelona? Who won and who lost in the protracted, at times ugly, rumour fest?
Jurgen Klopp
There is no doubt that Jurgen Klopp could have done without the entire Coutinho-Barca saga. It was an unnecessary distraction and rather than the focus being on Liverpool signing a much needed centre back, it became all about whether ‘Phil’ would stay or go.
There were heated arguments across the globe, including the Sport360 office, over the merits of selling or retaining Coutinho and Liverpool fans were nearly unanimous that he should be kept.
“We are not a selling club”, “He is our best player”, “What message does it send if we let him go?” – were the constant comments in millions of chat groups.
While others, perhaps more rationally, said Liverpool should cash in on a clearly unhappy player and use the plus £100 million windfall to invest in some much needed defenders.
There are two important factors to consider here. Firstly, the two issues are not related, the failure to sign Virgil van Dijk or another defender, has nothing to do with the selling or retention of Coutinho.
Liverpool’s failure to bring in a central defender is a major black spot on this transfer window and as diverting as the signing of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain might be, it can in no way compensate for that failure. ‘The Ox’ didn’t so much join the club as flee from the sinking ship that is Arsenal.
But was lack of money the reason for not signing ‘VVD’? We can only speculate but it seems that Liverpool had the funds to pay an above reasonable figure for the Southampton man. The problem was the Saints were as sick of losing their best players to Liverpool as the Reds were of losing their stars to Barca.
So Southampton dug their heels in, and Liverpool dug their heels in. Clearly another target should have been identified rather than placing all their eggs in one basket.
To lose Coutinho and not sign Van Dijk would have been a major failure and in the end Liverpool did reasonably well to bring in Dominic Solanke, Andrew Robertson, Mohammed Salah and Oxlade-Chamberlain for a net spend of £43 million.
Verdict: Winner
Philippe Coutinho
Where to now for the talented No.10? When he signed a new five-year contract in January clearly Coutinho had no idea that Barca were going to come for him so soon. If he did he was of the mistaken impression that Liverpool would let him go, with their blessing.
We are led to believe, by one side of the rumour mill, that he had always cherished the dream of playing for the Blaugrana, as did his family of seeing him in the famous strip, and the pain of being denied the move to Spain was akin to flagellation.
There seemed no limit to the sympathy, emotional blackmail, cards that would be played – topped finally by Neymar’s stories of the “deep sadness” of his “friend”.
Coutinho has a huge job now to win back the support of the fans. Luis Suarez was in a similar position a few years ago and managed to put the failed move behind him and play the season of his life as the team almost claimed the title. Then he moved, with gratitude, to Barcelona the following season.
Will Coutinho be able to do the same?
A few boos from ‘betrayed’ fans may result in a sullen performance from Coutinho, that will increase those boos which will make Coutinho more sullen and on and on in a downward spiral.
That is if he even gets the chance. The last player to fall foul of Klopp, Mamadou Sakho, was never seen on the playing field again for the Reds and many fans would say he was sorely missed.
Coutinho will be missed as much, perhaps even more, but will Klopp be similarly stubborn?
In the best scenario Coutinho comes out with a positive statement, Klopp re-introduces him strategically – perhaps in the League Cup at Leicester – the 25-year-old does what he does best and Liverpool fans welcome him back into their hearts.
In the worst scenario Coutinho continues to sulk and he is never seen in a red jersey again until he is offloaded, after a loan spell, to Barca (if they still want him) in mid-2018.
As to which scenario will unfold, we will wait and see.
Verdict: Loser
Josep Maria Bartomeu
How far and how quickly the mighty have fallen. Barcelona’s window was a disaster. One of their marquee players departed and they paid inflated prices to bring in replacements.
For such a famous club to lose one of their stars (Neymar), fail to lock down another (Messi) and then go so publicly for a major acquisition (Coutinho) and fail to sign him is a shambles.
They must get some results on the field because they will need them and fast to erase the terrible stink of the Countinho saga.
Verdict: Loser
