Barcelona star faces uncertain future due to contractual clause - Reports
Barcelona are currently in a pretty delicate situation regarding Philippe Coutinho. According to Spanish publication MARCA, the Catalan giants might have to offload the 29-year-old playmaker due to a clause in his deal with Liverpool.
According to the aforementioned source, Barcelona will be obliged to pay another €20 million to Liverpool if Coutinho makes a total of 100 appearances for the Catalan giants. As things stand, the Brazilian has made 90 appearances for Barcelona and is itching closer to that threshold.
Due to Barcelona's poor financial conditions, they would be in no position to pay the additional €20 million to Liverpool after paying an astronomical €160 million in January of 2018.
If this clause is real then Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman will have to make a tough decision on selecting Philippe Coutinho for the remainder of the season. The attacker has fully recovered from his injury and will be eased back into the starting XI as Koeman views him as an important player.
Barcelona tried to sell Philippe Coutinho this summer but failed to find a suitable buyer for the Brazilian international. The playmaker has a contract running until the summer of 2023 and pockets wages of €13.5 million per annum, which might have been the reason no one showed interest in the former Liverpool number 10.
Barcelona's financial woes force players to take a pay cut
Barcelona's financial burden was so severe that some of the senior members of the squad had to take a pay cut to help Blaugrana register their new arrivals this summer.
Gerard Piqué was the first Barcelona player to agree to take a pay cut to help the club register Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay. Later into the summer, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets followed in Pique's footsteps to take a pay cut which helped the club in registering Sergio Agüero for this season.
The financial conditions got so bad that Barcelona were unable to offer Lionel Messi a new contract which forced the six-time Ballon d'Or winner to leave the Nou Camp to join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.
However, things seem to be heading in the right direction now. Barcelona have sold fringe players including Emerson Royal, Ilaix Moriba and Junior Firpo whilst allowing high earners like Antoine Griezmann and Miralem Pjanić leave on loan.
Also Read: Paul Merson's column - Ranking the 5 best transfers in the Premier League this summer