Transfer funds and squad structure: A retrospective on the loss of Philippe Coutinho

Return on investment

The transfer fee that Barcelona sent in return for the dynamic midfielder was reported to be in the general area of £142 million. Directly after this, Liverpool spent large sums of money on Virgil Van Dijk (£75 Million) in January and Alisson Becker (£56 Million) in the summer.

Doing the very quick math on these deals, it would appear that the sum for Coutinho went directly to the acquisition of the two players that have transformed Klopp’s squad into something new, a club that can pose a more sustained threat than they could prior to the move.

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£142 million went to Liverpool and they spent a combined £131 million. When contracts are taken into consideration, this deal more or less levels out as even.

There is no doubt that Liverpool is lacking an attacking midfielder. Georgino Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson and James Milner are all independently high-quality players. However, they are too similar in terms of style of play to offer the intricacies provided by the best midfields in the sport.

Coutinho’s dynamic presence is absolutely lacking, but this can be managed, especially with an explosive front line and productive role players such as Naby Keïta and Xherdan Shaqiri.

The overarching point is that the players that Liverpool bought following the Coutinho transfer were a more natural fit within the Reds’ squad structure, as opposed to the current Barcelona man.