Philippe Coutinho has endured an unhappy time at Barcelona since his move there in January 2018…which club will enable him to escape his Camp Nou misery?
After selling Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for a then-world record transfer fee of £198million in 2017, Barcelona spent the money to replace the Brazilian superstar on, initially, Ousmane Dembele and then Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool.
But neither has been a true success and the Brazilian signing of that duo, who cost £142million, has particularly struggled to justify his huge price tag, incurring the wrath of the Barcelona home crowd for some underwhelming performances.
With Neymar now being linked with a return to Barcelona, the whole saga offers a strong feeling of ‘just what was the point of it all?’. Coutinho may not think that way, but he will surely be disappointed at how his own dream move has worked out.
So where can he go to put an end to his Barcelona torment? The club most strongly linked with him has been Chelsea, but they are serving a transfer ban this summer and unless that is dramatically overturned then Coutinho will not be heading to Stamford Bridge.
One obvious suggestion is some kind of swap deal that would involve Coutinho heading in the opposite direction to Neymar, joining PSG along with a significant sum of money that would facilitate his Brazil team-mate’s return to Camp Nou.
And then how about going back to Liverpool? Since Coutinho left, the Reds have reached two Champions League Finals – so although the player will realise his former employers now offer a greater chance of silverware, they could argue they have moved on perfectly well without him!
Odds for Philippe Coutinho’s club after the summer 2019 transfer window:
8/11 Barcelona (Paddy Power)
11/4 Paris Saint-Germain (Paddy Power)
7/1 Liverpool (888sport)
14/1 Chelsea (Paddy Power)
16/1 Inter Milan (Paddy Power
18/1 Bayern Munich (888sport)
20/1 Arsenal (William Hill)
20/1 Manchester United (Paddy Power)
33/1 Manchester City (Paddy Power)
Philippe Coutinho celebrates after scoring a goal for Brazil (PA Images)
