The Coutinho-Barcelona connection or the transfer that should never have happened

The most expensive transfer in Barcelona’s history turned out to be a very expensive mistake. Coutinho was never able to follow up his successful performances from Liverpool and for various reasons, he experienced a huge drop in form.

Coutinho was brought in by Barcelona from Liverpool in January 2018 for 120 million euros. Another forty million was to be paid by the club to the Brazilian international in bonuses. Together with Ousmane Dembele, they were supposed to compensate for the weakened attack after Neymar’s departure.

Philippe headed to the Camp Nou after the great performances he put in under Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool. It should be noted, many clubs were interested in Coutinho, with most of them impressed by his technique, dribbling or shots from distance. At Barcelona, however, he failed to show his strengths to the full.

He even came to Catalonia with the label of the most expensive player in the club’s history. His engagement had a very promising start. In twenty-two league games he scored nine goals and registered five assists. In the following season, 2018/19, he needed 32 more games to achieve a similar feat!

Then-coach Ernesto Valverde mostly put him on the left wing, where Coutinho couldn’t find himself. Moreover, he didn’t fit into a well-established attacking formation.

First guest appearance

Coutinho’s poor form led to his departure to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2019. There, the twenty-nine-year-old Brazilian international seemed to come to life. His performances were statistically slightly better than in the whole season in a Barcelona jersey – 38 games, 11 goals and 9 assists.

However, for the most important matches he only came off the bench, Bayern eventually decided not to buy Coutinho. Even so, he seemed to have returned from Bavaria mentally and physically strengthened.

The Brazilian subsequently started the 2020/21 season in good spirits – he managed to score two goals and assisted two more. However, he later lost momentum and soon suffered an injury that proved to be long-term. As a result, he didn’t play in any games until the end of the season.

Even in a somewhat weakened Barcelona, Coutinho was unable to break into the starting line-up and establish a solid position in the team. Indeed, two goals in 16 games is far beyond the expectations of the most expensive player in the club’s history.

Final showdown

Objectively speaking, then, did it offer any other effective solution than to send him out on another loan? His high salary didn’t allow to register new signings, moreover, finding a new club for a failing, aging and not the best playing footballer wasn’t easy.

In the end, Coutinho ends up at Aston Villa on loan with the possibility of a permanent transfer. However, it cannot be ruled out that the Brazilian will return to Catalonia again in case of failure. His contract with the Blaugranas runs until June 2023.

106 games played, 25 goals scored and 14 assists – this is Coutinho’s record at Barcelona. At one time he was even considered one of the greatest talents in European football, right after Lionel Messi.

However, he hasn’t been able to show it in a Blaugranas jersey. In addition, many factors contributed to this – the pressure of replacing Neymar, the enormous transfer costs, not finding the ideal position or the turbulence within the club itself.

Health and two operations have not improved his situation. The ongoing difficulties have led Barcelona’s most expensive footballer in history to make a visit to a club that currently holds only fourteenth place in the Premier League. And that, sadly, is a shining testament to his downfall.

Sources