As Barcelona prepare to up their bid for Philippe Coutinho we look at the case for and against selling our Brazilian midfielder.
Until last week there really was no desire from any of our fanbase to sell Philippe Coutinho. A transfer request and phantom back injury later and there are now many who are willing to let him go. It would have been unthinkable in June that by mid-August there would be a sizable portion of Liverpool fans advocating his sale. But here we are.
So here are the cases for and against selling Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona:
The Case For Selling Coutinho:
The biggest argument for letting him leave is that he wants to go. We all knew he would like to play for Barcelona. But it wasn’t until the transfer request came that we realized that he also wants to leave Liverpool. He is willing to burn bridges with, club, manager and fans to get his dream. Do we really want to keep a player who would do that?
Jurgen Klopp places huge emphasis on team spirit and harmony. The teamwork element of his tactics and gregarious nature only work when the players are willing. Coutinho’s stance sucks the life out of the dressing room. You can feel its effects on the pitch.
Another reason we should sell is that other players are watching what we do. Is Emre Can going to sign a new contract knowing that Liverpool will refuse a dream move for him in the future? Also, as Rory Smith of the New York Times points out, other South American’s will be put off coming here if they feel there is no road that leads to Barca or Real Madrid.
I literally cannot imagine a better pitch to young South Americans than: come here for three years, shine, and move to Barca or Real.
— Rory Smith (@RorySmith) August 9, 2017
The timing from a financial perspective is also a plus. Transfer fees have rocketed this window and the presumption is they will rise again next year. However, Barcelona have the Neymar money now. If they are willing to give most of it, say £120 million, for Coutinho that is a pretty good deal for us. It is only the vast amount of Neymar’s transfer that makes it feel less.
If you have been saying all summer that Southampton should let Virgil van Dijk go and RB Leipzig should release Naby Keita, it makes sense that we do the same for Coutinho. Every club sells players, often their best ones. If it the benefits outweigh the downsides we should be open to letting him go.
The Case Against Selling Coutinho
The biggest reason we shouldn’t sell Philippe Coutinho is that he is very, very good at football. He is our best player, though Sadio Mane is challenging that. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we don’t have an abundance of world class talent. We are not like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or even Manchester City. There aren’t scores elite players lining our bench. We have Ragnar Klavan and Marko Grujic.
Selling your best player is demoralizing. It casts a cloud over both the dressing room and the fanbase. It makes everything feel like one step forward, two steps back; slowing progress and regressing the development of the squad.
We only just scraped into the Champions League places last year. Losing Coutinho puts us further behind our rivals; all except Tottenham have made significant improvements.
The timing is horrible. There is not enough time before the window closes to highlight targets, move on them and integrate them into the team. If, of course, we were even capable of doing that. We have missed all but one of our major targets this summer. There is very little trust in the fanbase that we could successfully spend Coutinho’s fee. Even if it were a £1 billion.
Keeping Coutinho is a sign that we believe we can be great again. It is a demonstration that we believe we can win this year. Mount a title challenge and progress in the Champions League. Letting go of Coutinho says to the fans “not this year”.
Jamie Carragher predicted there would be “riots” if we sold Coutinho. After a disappointing summer in the transfer window, for many fans, it would be the last straw.
The Case For & Against Selling Coutinho: Verdict
I think the verdict has to be we should not sell him. I think doing so would cast a deep depression over the season; one I’m not sure our squad is capable of rising above. The Watford result reminded us of our failings. We have to improve and strengthen. It is not the moment for more transition and reshaping.
This has been another summer of transfer frustration. A broken record of transfer window disappointment. For whatever reason the club cannot seem to get the big deals done. They have struggled to land Klopp’s favored targets. Often alienating other clubs in the process. Many teams don’t even want to listen our offers anymore.
These stumbles in the transfer market have strained relationships between FSG and the fans. Selling Philippe Coutinho would push many of our fanbase into the ‘FSG out’ camp. We have been through fan wars before – Rafa’s last season springs to mind. The bitching and blaming within the fans hurts everyone. It sours everything at the club.
We need to reject Barcelona out of hand. We need to sit down with the player and tell him that he can leave next year. But this season we need him and we need him playing well. Keep the Brazilian, sign up Emre Can, get a center back and a midfielder. Then we can have some positivity and a good go at the league title. Up the Reds!
Next: Transfer Profile: Nice midfielder Jean Michael Seri
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