Barcelona Tack On Philippe Coutinho Clause in Adama Traore Loan Deal?
You can go ahead and file this one under “unconfirmed nonsense” for now, but you never know what’s going to happen when it comes to Barcelona, do you? Despite being under a transfer ban, the Catalan giants have somehow brought in Atletico Madrid play-maker Arda Turan this summer, and with highly rated youngster Adama Traore looking likely to move to Anfield on loan, the Champions League winners have reportedly asked for a clause to be included that would give them a crack at signing Philippe Coutinho.
Come again? Yes, you read that right. Again, for the time being, it’s a potent cocktail of rumour, speculation and half-witted imagination, but there’s little doubt that the Brazilian superstar, who only just upped his contract with the best team on Merseyside as they plodding to a disappointing sixth place finish, will have caught the eye a number of European juggernauts with his silky displays for both club and country. With competition fierce for Traore’s signature, it’s believed that this special clause — real, imagined, or somewhere in between — is what helped push Liverpool ahead of their rivals and finally sealed the deal.
Either way, it sounds like Barcelona aren’t fixing to snatch the 23-year old away quite yet, but the same can’t be said for the Reds and Traore with the Spaniard reportedly high on boss Brendan Rodgers summer shopping list. Depending on whom you believe, the 19-year old is in various states of transit ahead of a rumoured medical at Melwood after the Reds apparently pushed ahead of the competition in the race for his signature.
Traore, who was part of the Barcelona B team that was unceremoniously relegated to the third tier of Spanish football last season and must release 13-players before their campaign kicks-off, has a story as old as modern football itself with the youngster looking for bigger challenges and more playing time. It sounds like that hasn’t gone down well with his coach Gerard Lopez who isn’t interested in letting him go, telling Spanish media outlet “I’m counting on him” when asked the future of the 19-year old.
There’s so many conflicting stories going around about this transfer. Is it a loan? Is it permanent? A loan doesn’t really seem to make sense. If Barcelona were going to loan him out then surely they would do so to a team where he is going to play regularly. At Liverpool I’d expect him to be used mainly as an impact sub and a League Cup player for that first year. He looks full of potential but playing week in, week out in the Spanish second division is very different than playing week in, week out in the Premier League. From Liverpool’s perspective only a permanent transfer or a loan with a solid guarantee of a purchase make sense. Is there a buy-out clause in Traore’s contract? Have Liverpool agreed to give Barca first right of refusal in any future Coutinho sale? If there is a buy-out clause and Liverpool have met it then all the stuff about Coutinho is clearly nonsense because Barcelona would have no room to manoeuvre on the transfer if Liverpool had triggered the release clause. Rumours a few days back were suggesting Liverpool had had a bid 5million short of the buy-clause accepted so maybe Barca have used that shortfall to negotiate a specific clause. Is Liverpool definitely his destination? Reliable answers to this are hard to come by. The Mirror have said that Liverpool sources have distanced themselves from any imminent signing for the player. But didn’t Rodgers tell journalists a few days before Balotelli was signed that there was no way that Liverpool would be signing Balotelli. And when, a couple of days before Big Ben’s signature, Rodger was asked by an Australian journalist about Benteke’s imminent arrival didn’t he respond by saying ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’. Given that Everton have been linked with Traore isn’t it possible that the links with Liverpool are actually with a Merseyside club rather than the reds themselves? Some reports are suggesting that Traore will be visiting 3 clubs in the UK before he decides on his destination: Stoke, Aston Villa and Liverpool. It is true that sometimes players go to lesser clubs because they think they’ll get more game time but I’d be surprised if, at 19, this player who has every right to feel confident in his own abilities has already given up on the idea of making it at a big club. From Liverpool’s perspective he fits the mould of the type of player they want to bring in and rumour suggests that they made a failed to bring in Patrick Roberts earlier in the Summer and Roberts’s status is similar to Coutinho. I have a feeling he’ll be coming to Liverpool on a permanent deal and that to lower the price Liverpool may have given some vague assurance that if they do ever decide to sell Coutinho that they would inform Barca at the beginning of that process- doesn’t really commit them to much- the only real danger is if this confirmed interest from Barca turns the player’s head and makes him actively seek a transfer to Barca. But don’t forget this: next Summer is when the big broadcasting money bonanza begins so at that stage either Liverpool themselves might be looking for an upgrade on Coutinho or the player might be so impressed by the riches on offer at a Premier League club that he shuns any interest from the more impoverished Spanish league. I wouldn’t worry too much about this alleged clause….
If Coutinho continues to perform at a high level he’ll be off to Barca in a year or two anyway. He’s a Barca type player. Nobody turns down Barca/Real. They probably got a clause for first refusal or something. Hard telling with all the different reports.
I think as it stands you’re right: people want to play at Barca and Real. However, this may well change when the balance of power shifts with the new Premiership TV deal- as of next Summer. There will be lots of money floating around and Barca and Real might find it difficult to compete- especially as the pressure in Spain is for their Television rights to be shared more evenly rather than going primarily to the big two. One thing to note is that already this summer most of the stories concerning Real and Barca have been about their players being bought by other clubs or being sought after by other clubs. They themselves have been very inactive in the transfer market. I predict that this reversal of fortunes will be accelerated next summer.
well said, people don’t take into account the financial meltdown that is happening in Spain. Eventually this will impact on the ability of the big two to buy anyone they please, whether that is through their own fiscal measures or imposed on them by government such as tax increases. This is a much bigger issue than the media have been reporting and its impact should not be underestimated.
You were wrong mate, Liverpool isn’t small either and I think it all depend on who the manager is when Rafa was our manager I see top players reject move to the Spanish giants and it only happen to Mascherano (his dream club).
There is no way we should even entertain such nonsense!!!! That would surely upset a lot of fans! There’s no such thing as surplus when your squad has no quality in depth! Look at the bench of any real top 4 contender and you can notice the ability to field 2 quality squads on any given day!
Never said Liverpool were small. But if you think Liverpool is on the same level as Barca then you’re just deluded.
Not with BR around mate.