Philippe Coutinho might (or might not) be leaving Liverpool in the next few weeks. You might’ve heard.
With a good chunk of that Neymar money still burning a hole in Barcelona pockets, rumours are rife again that the Brazilian could be on his way out of Anfield before the month is out.
In the last week alone, we’ve seen reports saying Liverpool are set to take legal action against Nike after Barca’s official kit supplier appeared to prematurely leak news of the transfer, some bloke in Spain claiming to know the finer details of the transfer fee and – most importantly of all – Steve McClaren having his say on who Jürgen Klopp should bring in to replace him.
Now, thanks to the folks over at The Mirror, we’ve now learned which shirt number Coutinho is most likely to take should he make the switch to Barca.
Obviously, it won’t be number ten (his number at Anfield). That number’s already taken by some other fella who’s probably not going to be on his way out of the Camp Nou any time soon…
Coutinho’s second choice is said to be 11, although that was only recently given to Ousmane Dembele following his arrival from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
Instead, they point out that, as things stand, Barca’s only unoccupied squad number is 24, making this his most likely shirt number of he does make the move.
This said, the same report also highlights the fact that Barca’s Turkish midfielder Arda Turan could be set for a move away this window. If he does, the number seven shirt would also be vacant.