With the transfer window across Europe now closed, Philippe Coutinho is set to return from Brazil duty still a Liverpool player — a situation that seemingly doesn’t suit the player or the Catalonians who claim that the Reds priced them out of a deal for the 25-year old.
“Liverpool were asking for €200m and logically we didn’t accept that,” said Albert Soler, a director at the the La Liga giants, speaking to the press yesterday at a news conference. “We thank the player for the efforts he made, because he did make a big effort and showed he wanted to play for us,” added the Spaniard, hinting to not only the transfer request handed in by the player, but possibly the other dubious methods he used to try to force through the move. “The situation ended as it ended and there is nothing else we can do.”
Liverpool, of course, has denied that they even set a price on Coutinho, yet alone that they’d consider selling him at all. Throughout the summer the Reds hierarchy have maintained that he’d remain at Anfield for the season and so far they’ve kept that promise. Having sat out their unbeaten start to the campaign with a “back injury” and a bout of illness, the 25-year old came off the bench to bag a worldie as Brazil comfortably beat Ecuador in a World Cup qualifier. Looking very much like a player unhampered by any sort of problem, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will now be expecting Coutinho to return to Merseyside and attempt to reintegrate himself into the team — a task the German won’t have a problem doing.
“We still have a really good player in the squad who can play,” explained the Reds manager, speaking to German media outlet SPORT1. “Don’t believe everything in the press or that there are offers here and there and that the minute after the offer has been entered, it should already be over,” stressed Klopp, knowing full well that it’s going to take some time for the Liverpool supporters to welcome back the want-away Brazilian. “We are not like George Orwell where everybody knows everything immediately. We have exactly the situation we wanted and no other.”
