Philippe Coutinho has sealed his move to Barcelona
Philippe Coutinho has agreed a £146m transfer from Barcelona ทางเข้า sbo to Liverpool, so how will Jurgen Klopp's side cope without the Brazilian? We weigh up the stats.
It took two transfer windows and a staggering sum of money, but Philippe Coutinho is finally on his way to Barcelona. His departure comes as a sucker-punch to the Liverpool supporters who were still savouring Virgil van Dijk's match-winning Merseyside derby debut less than 24 hours earlier, but there was a sense of inevitability about it all too.
It is no secret that Philippe has wanted this move to happen since July, when Barcelona first made their interest known," said Jurgen Klopp in a statement. "Philippe was insistent with me, the owners and even his team-mates this was a move he was desperate to make happen." Having resisted Barcelona's advances in the summer, Liverpool must now prepare for life without him.
It is a daunting prospect. Coutinho's time at Liverpool was a story of constant improvement. From five, to eight, to 12, to 14, his goal tallies rose with every full season on Merseyside. Midway through the current campaign, he is only two short of his total for the whole of 2016/17. A player who arrived from Inter Milan in 2013 as a precocious but unproven 20-year-old, leaves as a superstar.
Over the course of his five years at Anfield, no player has been more influential to Liverpool and few have provided more value to the Premier League. Coutinho has scored more goals from outside the box (19) than anyone else since his arrival in England, but his penchant for the spectacular is just a small part of what he brought to his team.