5 players Barcelona could have signed with £142 million Coutinho money
It is quite difficult to look at this transfer and not think that Barcelona did it to make a statement against Liverpool more than anything else. If the signing fee was somewhere around £60-70 million, there would have been a totally different complexion to this purchase.
However, for £142 million, it is quite impossible to claim that there was nothing else to it. Liverpool didn’t let the Catalans bully them in the summer, something that didn’t go all too well with the Blaugranas.
As a result, they came back in the winter window and exerted their might on the Reds. And this time, they were powerless to resist. However, Barcelona could have signed similar players for lesser the amount—and here are 5 such players.
Note: This article doesn’t berate Coutinho’s ability as a player. He is world-class, but just not £142 million world-class.
#5 Thomas Lemar
The Frenchman might be left-footed, but would have been a player for Barcelona in the Philippe Coutinho mould. The Monaco star could have easily slotted as the left-sided midfielder in a 3-man midfield and provide both directness and creativity from there.
Apart from that, according to Monaco’s valuation, he would have cost somewhere around £90 million—which is a lot less than what the Catalans paid for the Brazilian star.
While there is little doubt that the former Inter man is the more established player than the young Frenchman, one has to wonder as to how high Lemar’s ceiling is. Perhaps, it is above the potential of Coutinho.
Barca might have missed a trick here.