He cost 135 million euros
Seven years have passed since Philippe Coutinho arrived at FC Barcelona
The Brazilian striker arrived as Liverpool's big star, but his signing did not go as expected and he ended up leaving through the back door with more pain than glory
Football, like life, has many twists and turns and Philippe Coutinho knows it. He was the star of Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool and one of the most talented footballers on the planet. He was also a Barça fan and gave everything to force his departure from the 'red' team. "Stay here and they will end up building a statue in your honour. Go somewhere else and you will end up being another player. Here you can be something else," the German coach assured him. However, nothing stopped the Brazilian and he ended up joining the ranks of FC Barcelona in 2018.
His signing was a truly complicated operation. After Neymar Jr left for PSG in exchange for 222 million, the technical secretariat set its sights on Coutinho. However, in the summer of 2017 the operation did not materialise. Finally, Ousmane Dembélé ended up signing for the Barcelona team as a substitute for the ex-Santos in exchange for 135 million euros, from Borussia Dortmund. A huge blow to the Catalan coffers, which were overflowing after the departure of the Brazilian star.
After an eventful first half of the season for the recent signing, who was seriously injured after only 121 minutes in a Blaugrana shirt, FC Barcelona once again went for the Liverpool player. Philippe, who had made many efforts to get to Barcelona, even handing in a transfer request to his club, was hurt after the impossibility of completing the operation. However, with the arrival of the winter transfer market in 2018, the Catalan club broke the market by paying another 135 million euros and ended up taking the player. The official announcement was made on January 6, while the player was presented on January 8, 2018, exactly 7 years ago.
His time at Barça was not the best
Coutinho's first half-season was amazing. Not even playing out of position stopped the Brazilian, who was putting in some exemplary performances. He finished the season with 7 goals and 9 assists in 22 games. However, the following year, his performance declined, it must be remembered that Barça was not playing well and, as if that were not enough, the catastrophe at Anfield against his former team occurred. All the joy that the Rio de Janeiro native generated when he arrived at the club turned into requests to leave.
He spent the 19/20 season on loan at Bayern for 8.5 million euros. Despite playing 38 games, scoring 11 goals, two against FC Barcelona in the 2-8, and giving 9 assists, he did not have the prominence or the expected performance. Coutinho went from being one of the best footballers in the world to a broken toy. He spent 18 months playing with the Blaugrana jersey, but he never recovered his good feelings, not even playing as an attacking midfielder. So he ended up at Aston Villa for 20 million, where he didn't succeed either. He was loaned to Qatar's Al-Duhail and is now in the same position at Vasco Da Gama, the club that trained him, but nothing is the same anymore.
The former Barça number 7 celebrates this Wednesday 7 years since his debut with the club of his dreams. Despite the fact that he gambled his career on his dream and it ended up going very badly for him, he was always proud to have worn the Barça shirt. He never had a bad word to say about the institution and was always a professional. Wherever you go, Phil, I hope you are very happy.
