“That’s a ridiculous thing to say.”
Robbie Savage, like a lot of football fans, has a solution to the Philippe Coutinho situation. Liverpool have rejected three bids for the Brazilian, the latest bid from Barcelona, submitted on Friday, was worth a potential £118m.
The offer from the Catalan club was heavily incentive based. Liverpool would have received a guaranteed payment of £82.1m, and £36.5m would have been paid based on the Brazilian’s performance. So, if Coutinho had won the Ballon d’Or or the Champions League while at Barca, they would have been obliged to pay the entire £118m.
Looks like he's staying https://t.co/0cBD9KEW45
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) August 19, 2017
Despite the structured nature of the offer, the fee still represents a significant profit for Liverpool on a player they paid £8.5m for back in January 2013. It’s also a large sum of money to receive for someone who has told the club he wants to leave.
Liverpool instantly rejected the bid, and very few people associated with the club want to see Coutinho leave, regardless of the transfer fee. However, there many football fans who reckon the club should reluctantly accept Barca’s generous offer for a player who has handed in a transfer request and try find a suitable replacement.
Savage is one of those, but his logic for selling Coutinho seems a bit flawed. The former Leicester City midfielder claims Liverpool should sell Coutinho because it’s not like the club are going to win anything this season anyway.
And they would make a healthy profit too https://t.co/CMq2gbepey
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 18, 2017
“Will Liverpool win the league with Coutinho? No,” Savage said, answering his own question on BT Sport Score.
“Will they win the Champions League with Coutinho? No. So, for me they may as well…”
Savage was interrupted by Chris Sutton, who said his colleague’s view was “ridiculous.”
The pair then shouted over each other, and Savage repeated his claim that Liverpool aren’t going to win the league with Coutinho. The former Wales midfielder’s argument that Liverpool aren’t going to win anything with or without Coutinho won’t be a popular one with fans of the club.
You can watch Savage here:
The Coutinho saga is dragging on. Should Liverpool take the money? The #BTSportScore panel discuss! pic.twitter.com/YFY5StkeBt
— eir Sport (@eirSport) August 19, 2017
And the rest of the debate here.
"If they get lucky with the draw,, they could well get through." – @chris_sutton73 on Celtic's #UCL chances. #BTSportScore pic.twitter.com/mZ9WCmnuvD
— eir Sport (@eirSport) August 19, 2017
