Should Liverpool listen to Coutinho's plea?

Bengaluru, June 15: If reports in England are to be believed, former Liverpool fan favourite Philippe Coutinho has made a personal plea to Jurgen Klopp to sign him back at the Merseyside club.

The Brazilian attacking midfielder made his dream switch to Barcelona from Liverpool back in January 2018 but soon his dream turned into a nightmare as he struggled to make his impact at Camp Nou and was eventually shipped out of the club on a loan deal to Bayern Munich.

It is widely reported that Barcelona are desperate to offload the playmaker off their enormous wage bill and are prepared to endure a significant financial loss in doing so.

Now that the Brazilian has personally made a plea to his former manager to bring him back to Merseyside and club legend Steve Nicol also urging the manager to do the same, the question is should Liverpool sign Coutinho back or should they let this opportunity slip away. We will discuss that in this article.

The last couple of years have been sensational for Liverpool Football Club. However, it all started with a pretty bad memory for the fans as well as the Liverpool management as Coutinho forced his dream move to Barcelona in January 2018.

Despite being the most adored player at Anfield, Coutinho had no courtesy for the club that made him the player he is from an Inter Milan reject and even faked a back injury as per reports. Liverpool received a club-record £142 million for the Brazilian but it must not be forgotten that he jumped ships in the middle of the season just when things started working for Klopp at Liverpool.

Klopp ensured that Liverpool became even a stronger side following the departure of Coutinho and signed Virgil van Dijk in that window itself and also made big-money signings in the form of Fabinho and Alisson Becker, six months later in the summer transfer window.

The money Liverpool received from Coutinho's sale was used in the best possible fashion and Liverpool truly became one of the most complete sides in Europe and also went on to conquer Europe the next year.

However, they also made it to the final of the Champions League the same year they sold Coutinho and lost to Real Madrid. With Coutinho, things could have been different.

There should ideally be no room of sentiment for Coutinho at Liverpool. Yes, he had his moments of magic for the Reds but the way he forced his move was not acceptable by any means. Also from a financial point of view, it does not make sense.

Liverpool were hesitant to pay the £49m release clause of Timo Werner who seemed to be desperate for a Liverpool move. If the Reds are not willing to pay such a reasonable fee for one of the best strikers in Europe right now, it is hard to believe that they will pay a similar or larger amount for an out of favour Coutinho who is also four years older.

History has shown that South American players tend to decline a bit earlier than European players and it seems that Coutinho's career is already in the decline. Yes, it must have been heartbreaking for the Liverpool fans to see him join Barcelona two and a half years ago. But now it seems like a brilliant deal made by Liverpool managing to get £142 million for a player Barcelona are struggling to find buyers. The Catalan giants might have to endure almost £100 million loss by selling Coutinho if not more.

It is believed that Coutinho earns around €15m a year at Barcelona which is much beyond Liverpool's current top earner Mohamed Salah's annual wages. Even if Coutinho takes a sizable pay cut to join his former club, he would still be one of the highest earners at Anfield but it is hard to find a place for him in the system Liverpool have adapted to following his departure.

He is not industrious enough to get into Liverpool midfield while he is also unlikely to be a first-choice on the flanks ahead of Salah and Mane. It makes absolutely no sense for Liverpool to splash a big fee for a player who does not fit in Klopp's tactics.

With the transfer fee and wages, Coutinho would command, it would be wise from Liverpool to refrain from any kind of sentiment and not opt for a move for the former Liverpool number ten. If they indeed wish to sign an attacking player, they should ideally go for players like Kai Havertz or Jadon Sancho who are rising stars, unlike Coutinho who seems to be on his decline.