The ‘only solution’ in Philippe Coutinho’s Barcelona situation

The case of Philippe Coutinho at Barcelona has been extremely curious. What started off as promising as could be when he arrived from Liverpool in January 2018 has just been shaky and disastrous ever since.

Coutinho’s struggles with form and fitness have been worrying, and his high-profile signing for over 140 million euros has not panned out at all in the way each party would have hoped.

Since his knee injury back in December, he suffered multiple setbacks in his recovery before finally passing his medicals ahead of the new season. However, he has constantly been linked with a move away from Barcelona due to his lack of performances, astronomical wages, and amortisation ties with add-ons yet to be paid to his former club, Liverpool.

Yet, it seems as though Ronald Koeman trusts the Brazilian and aims to keep him in his plans. However, according to reports from Diario AS, his sky-high salary makes it impossible for him to stay, making his transfer or a loan the only viable solution.

As things stand, he is the second-highest earner at the club with a gross salary of 24 million euros per season. Additionally, clauses in his contract state that after a specific number of games more, Barcelona will have to pay Liverpool in add-ons.

This deal runs on till 2023, which, in the club’s current financial landscape is almost impossible to sustain. Between Koeman’s faith in the midfielder and the fans’ distrust, Coutinho’s future seems very unclear.

His form post-injury is a mystery and whether or not he will ever agree to a wage cut if it comes to that is also unknown.