When Jurgen Klopp said that he’d done everything in his power to hang on to Philippe Coutinho, he meant it.
Coutinho is undergoing a medical at Barcelona on Monday morning after a £142 million deal was agreed to see him make the switch from Liverpool to the Camp Nou.
After a failed attempt to bring the Brazilian playmaker on board in the summer, Barcelona made it their mission to get their top target in January, despite the fact that he is ineligible to represent them in the Champions League this season.
“I can tell the Liverpool supporters that we, as a club, have done everything within our means to convince Philippe that remaining part of LFC was as attractive as moving to Spain, but he is 100 per cent certain his future – and that of his family – belongs at Barcelona,” Klopp said of his talisman’s decision to move. “It is his dream and I am now convinced there is nothing left at our disposal to change his mind.”
Only last week, Reds legend Jamie Carragher was adamant that it would make no sense for Liverpool to sell their star player at the midway point of the season.
No way @LFC agree to sell in the middle of the season.
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) January 3, 2018
And, apparently, Liverpool tried to take advantage of the fact that Barca are so far ahead in the La Liga table and that Coutinho won’t be able to assist them in Europe.
According to the Daily Mail, the Merseyside club was so desperate to keep a hold of the 25-year-old that they requested Barcelona loan him back to them until the end of the season.
The player’s agent, Kia Joorabchian, revealed that Klopp was so desperate that he asked for a further six months of Coutinho’s contribution but the request was rejected by the Catalan club.
The short-term thinking and the fact that the Reds didn’t have a replacement in place for their departing midfielder has predictably resulted in supporters slamming the lack of preparation.
https://twitter.com/armelrose/status/950298670477520896
https://twitter.com/holidaestyles/status/950290886465859585
Apparently we asked Barca to get Coutinho on loan. What a joke
— 🃏 (@sdoinho) January 8, 2018
https://twitter.com/Diebere7/status/950279361994862592
https://twitter.com/nodnodders/status/950302460345757696
We havnt lined up any1 to replace coutinho or we wudnt of asked if we can keep him on loan till the summer, i mean asking to keep ur own player till the summer isnt bad enuf
— paul LFC (@paulandrewwild) January 8, 2018
