It seems a mischief maker at Nike HQ was pranking us all along.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or partaking in the excesses of the festive period), you’ll be fully aware of the hysteria that some screenshots of Nike’s website caused last week. It sent the excitable fan bases of both Liverpool and Barcelona into a frenzy about the future of a certain Philippe Coutinho.
Does this explain why they were so willing to spend £75m on Van Dijk?
https://t.co/qNAfLKF3nK— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) December 31, 2017
Details on the Nike store site seemed to inadvertently announce that the Brazilian marvel had agreed to swap Anfield for Camp Nou, and that a deal between both European giants had already been done. The announcement read:
‘Philippe Coutinho is ready to light up Camp Nou. Get your 2017/18 FC Barcelona kit with the Magician’s name on it. Act fast – free personalisation only available until 6 Jaunary’
But thanks to Paul Joyce at the Times, the story has been well and truly debunked. There is no agreement/done deal in place. In fact, the opposite is very much true – it would take something truly stunning to transpire for a January deal to go through.
Joyce is a hugely respected authority on all things Liverpool Football Club, and he insists that a truly mammoth bid – that is not forthcoming – of over £118 would be required before the Anfield outfit would even think of selling their prized asset. The matter is not up for discussion, and Jurgen Klopp is not planning to flog his playmaker.
‘Barcelona will have to table a huge bid far in excess of the £118 million offer rejected in the summer for Liverpool to even consider allowing Philippe Coutinho to leave in the transfer window.
‘The intrigue over the Brazil forward’s future intensified yesterday after an advert offering Barcelona shirts with Coutinho’s name appeared on the Catalan club’s official website.
‘Jürgen Klopp has refused to discuss Coutinho’s future beyond January in contrast to when the club said that he was not for sale at any price in the summer.’
