If Coutinho is to leave next year Liverpool have to spend big now
By David Gate
Liverpool are set to reject more approaches from Barcelona for Philippe Coutinho. If they are to sell him next year then they need to spend big now.
By consensus, Philippe Coutinho is our best player. There is a reason why Barcelona want to drop a chunk of their Neymar cash on our Brazilian. His vision, drive and technique are of the highest order. He is scoring top corner crackers every other week. Only Eden Hazard can truly rival him as the best attacking midfielder in the Premier League.
Barcelona are desperate to add him this summer but Liverpool will not hear it. There are many similarities to Luis Suarez’s penultimate summer. That year Arsenal tried to meet a release clause that didn’t exist and Barcelona logged their interest before waiting a year to make a bid. He eventually left for Spain after the World Cup. But not before spearheading Liverpool ‘s first genuine title challenge in 5 years.
Coutinho has shown no signs of unrest himself despite everyone and their dog knowing he would like to move. It is also a World Cup year after all. If Liverpool are determined to keep him then he may feel it is best to knuckle down and concentrate on one last year at Anfield and the World Cup in Russia. Especially if there is an understanding between club and player that he can leave next year.
I think that is how things will pan out. In that scenario Liverpool cannot balk this summer at spending big to improve. Coutinho is a sensational player and if we only have one more year of him then we need to make it count. We cannot go through another season with a patchwork defense; hoping we out score our opponents. We need a first team, Champions League level center back. Even if we have to overpay.
There is no guarantee we will qualify for the Champions League next season. It will be very hard even with Coutinho. If we fall to 5th or 6th this year and then lose Coutinho it will make improving the squad next year much harder. Now is the time. This is the moment. Let’s not waste it.
Next: Transfer Profile: Ajax midfielder Hakim Ziyech
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