Barcelona ‘are DESPERATE to sell Philippe Coutinho because they will have to pay Liverpool another £18m in fees if he plays 10 more games’, with his total price reaching a staggering £142m
- Philippe Coutinho joined Barcelona in 2018 for a fee that could rise to £142m
- Liverpool will be owed another £18million if he plays 10 more games for Catalans
- Barcelona are in financial turmoil and want Coutinho off their books in January
- Club have been battered by financial impact of coronavirus crisis this year
Barcelona are desperate to sell Philippe Coutinho with Liverpool in line for an extra £18million if he plays another 10 games with the Spanish club.
Coutinho joined Barcelona from the Reds in 2018 for a fee that could eventually rise to £142m, but the Catalan club want to get rid of him before that can happen.
According to Sport, Barcelona want Coutinho off their books as soon as possible as if he reaches 100 games, a clause will be triggered to pay Liverpool £18m.
Philippe Coutinho has a clause in his contract that could see Liverpool paid £18million
Ronald Koeman may want to play the Brazilian but the club are keen to have him off the books
Coutinho has currently played 90 official matches for the club and was thought of by Ronald Koeman as a key man in his evolution of the team.
The Brazilian playmaker has featured 12 times in all competitions this season but also struggled with injury.
Given the grim economic outlook, Barcelona would let Coutinho go for £45m, according to the Athletic, and they would also sanction loan moves for Junior Firpo, Samuel Umtiti and Riqui Puig.
Barcelona are struggling financially, having been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and a massive squad wage bill, not bolstered by fans attending games.
Coutinho would have already reached 100 games for the team had he not been loaned out to Bayern Munich, who he helped win the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League last season.
The former Liverpool man joined Barcelona back in 2018 in a deal that could rise to £142m
The new club president will be elected by the end of January but by that time, Coutinho could have already played the 10 extra games needed to activate the expensive clause.
The current management board are understandably reluctant to let that happen, given the gravity of the current situation.
Barcelona’s players have already agreed a wage deferral that will see them earn £112million less this season after agreeing pay cuts.
The club have ensured they will be paid their lost wages in full by 2025, even if some of them have long since departed the club.
Coutinho might find himself with a place on the bench so Barcelona avoid paying the clause
Barcelona have massive debts to pay off so Coutinho may not play for them again
It took until late November for the players to agree a pay cut deal to help with the financial black hole Barcelona find themselves in. They rejected an initial offer of £170m and then £130m.
Barcelona are still £60million short of the figure they want to save, the agreement will help the financially stricken club to fulfil the proportional part of their payroll from January.
Barca’s latest figures showed the club had made an £88m loss and had racked up a net debt that had doubled to £440m, as of June 2020.
