As Philippe Coutinho signed for Barcelona from Liverpool, he becomes world’s 2nd most expensive transfer after Neymar

Updated On March 18, 2024 | Published By: Robert Taylor | In Career

Philippe Coutinho has just completed his dream move to Barcelona from Liverpool for £142 million.
After his transfer, Coutinho also became the world’s second most expensive signing of all time.
The Brazilian international has recently traveled to Spain from London to make his move complete.

Furthermore, he has signed for the club in five-and-a-half year contract worth £355 million release clause.

Source: Daily Mail (Philippe Coutinho arrived at Barcelona ahead of his £142 million moves)

As Neymar switched to PSG from Barcelona last season, Barcelona had eyed the 25-year-old Liverpool midfielder to fill the gap. However, the transfer couldn’t happen, and as the January transfer opened there were huge speculations over the transfer of Philippe Coutinho.

Last season, Neymar signed for the French giants, PSG from Barcelona for a record-breaking transfer amount of €222 million. Now, the Brazilian international has become the second most expensive transfer after Neymar.

Barcelona confirmed the signing of the midfielder with a video on Twitter showing Coutinho’s Barcelona jersey hanging in a locker.

👋 @Phil_Coutinho!
Bem-vindo! Welcome! Benvingut! ¡Bienvenido!
🔵🔴 #BeBarça #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/NnQDY3CD0C
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 6, 2018

After the deal was confirmed Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp stated,

“It is with great reluctance that we – as a team and club – prepare to say farewell to a good friend, a wonderful person and a fantastic player in Philippe Coutinho. It is no secret that Philippe has wanted this move to happen since July, when Barcelona first made their interest known.”

He further added,

“Philippe was insistent with me, the owners and even his team-mates this was a move he was desperate to make happen. Despite that, we managed to keep the player here beyond the summer window, hoping that we would be able to persuade him to stay and be part of what we are looking to do. It is his dream and I am now convinced there is nothing left at our disposal to change his mind.”

As the deal didn’t happen last season, Coutinho was not happy at all at Anfield. Additionally, he also missed a couple of matches for the Reds stating that he was sick.

However, he was seen playing for the Brazilian national team at the same time. Luis Suarez also signed for the Catalan side from Liverpool and has also become a huge success for the club to date.

Recently, the Dutch international Virgil van Dijk has joined Liverpool for £75million and also became the most expensive defender. In his very first match, Virgil van Dijk also scored a header.

Source: The Sun (Philippe Coutinho during his time at Liverpool)

After signing Ousmane Dembele and Paulinho, Barcelona is looking much stronger along with in-form Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez to face top sides along with Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Real Madrid.

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Philippe Coutinho’s spell at Liverpool

On 26 January 2013, Philippe Coutinho signed for the English side for £8.5 million. Since then, he has played in 152 matches and scored 41 goals for the club. Moreover, he has also won the Liverpool FC Fans Player of the Year Award in the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons respectively. In addition, he was also named PFA Fans’ Player of the Month for February 2015.

Also read The 6 most expensive football transfers of all time

Short bio on Philippe Coutinho

Philippe Coutinho is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich on loan from Barcelona and the Brazilian national team. Likely, he is known for his combination of vision, passing, dribbling, and ability to conjure curving long-range strikes. More bio…

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