Philippe Coutinho was THE trending topic today for anyone in the world who closely monitors the beautiful game. Early on in the day, multiple outlets broke the news that Liverpool and Barcelona had finally struck a deal for Coutinho, with talk that an official announcement was coming later in the day.
That announcement is indeed here, and the mother of all transfer sagas has now reached its final stage.
? @Phil_Coutinho!
Bem-vindo! Welcome! Benvingut! ยกBienvenido!?? #BeBarรงa #ForรงaBarรงa pic.twitter.com/NnQDY3CD0C
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 6, 2018
We THINK you guys are happy with @Phil_Coutinho… ?
?? #BeBarรงahttps://t.co/JBgOsYwxos— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 7, 2018
The Brazilian playmaker has officially left Anfield for Barca, signing a five-and-a-half year deal. Additionally, the attacker will have a release clause of over $481 million (ยฃ354.3, โฌ399.8). Obviously, there will be a ton of comparisons and analogies between Coutinho and Luis Suarez going forward, as the extremely controversial forward is the most recent player to leave Liverpool for the Catalan giants.
The monetary amount (ยฃ142 million, $192m, โฌ160m) breaks the Premier league transfer fee record. It’s also the third most expensive transfer in world history behind Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. It looks to be a much more eventful January transfer window than we’re accustomed to. In addition to the Coutinho deal, we have seen Ross Barkley moving from Everton to Chelsea and Virgil van Dijk from Southampton to Liverpool.
Paul M. Banks runsย The Sports Bank.netย and TheBank.News, which is partnered withย News Now.ย Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times,ย NBC Chicago.comย andย Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly toย WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging communityย Chicago Now.
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