Philippe Coutinho heading to Barcelona in stunning £138m deal from Liverpool with announcement set for 7pm
The Merseyside club have finally accepted defeat in their bid to hold on to their prize asset as Coutinho heads to La Liga
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PHILIPPE COUTINHO IS on his way to Barcelona with the Spanish giants preparing to make an announcement at 7pm this evening.
Liverpool have fought to the last to keep hold of their attacking midfielder.
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But the Catalan giants have finally got their man after a fourth bid of around £138million.
Liverpool had rejected increasing offers from the Nou Camp to take the Brazilian international.
A third offer of £118 million was turned down but the Liverpool’s resolve finally broke yesterday with the player intent on the move from Anfield to the Nou Camp.
SunSport online revealed earlier today how Coutinho was ready to intervene himself in the drawn out saga by appealing directly to manager Jurgen Klopp.
Now it looks like his dream move will become a reality after four-and-a-half seasons at Anfield in which time he made 182 appearances scoring 42 goals.
The deal gives Liverpool a huge profit on a player they bought for £8.5million from Inter Milan.
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Coutinho, 25, signed a new five-year deal with Liverpool in January but that was before he was aware of Barca’s interest.
He had emailed a transfer request into Anfield but that was initially ignored.
Coutinho has not played in the opening three games of the new season with manager Klopp citing back problems and illness.
However that did not stop him joining up with the Brazil squad to face Ecuador today.
He has been passed fit to play by his national team’s medical staff.
It is from Brazil’s Port Alegre base that Coutinho had been keeping in touch with movements back in Spain and England.
Liverpool looked fine without him in their 4-0 win on Sunday, although it was against an Arsenal in disarray.
It is understandable that Klopp fought to keep one of his best players but in the end the offer was too good for a player who wanted out.
Klopp could not be sure of how committed to Liverpool Coutinho would be if his pleas fell on deaf ears and he was forced to stay at Anfield.
This could have been Coutinho’s only chance to get the transfer with Barcelona always quick to move on to other options as they look to spend the money from Neymar’s world record £198million move to Paris Saint Germain.
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La Liga’s transfer window closes tomorrow 24 hours after the Premier League’s.