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CASH-STRAPPED BARCA, DESPERATE TO OFFLOAD COUTINHO TO AVOID £17M PAYMENT TO LIVERPOOL

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Barcelona are becoming increasingly desperate to offload Philippe Coutinho  this summer with the playmaker edging closer to triggering £17million in payments to Liverpool by the club.

Coutinho joined Barca from the Reds in a deal worth £140m at the start of 2018 but has since struggled to live up to his transfer fee.

The figure was broken down in a series of installments with guaranteed fees set at £103m and appearance and success fees also added as part of 15 clauses Barca already has had to meet according to Mundo Deportivo.

The main clause of these is the £17m that would be paid to Liverpool if the 28-year-old reaches 100 games for the club.

He has currently played 90 times at the Nou Camp, but having made little impact the club are keen to avoid having to pay this clause especially amid the financial strain they are under following the coronavirus outbreak last year.

With Barca’s financial reports recently revealing that they still owe as much as £112m to 19 different teams in transfer fees, they will be hoping to trim needless costs where they can. 

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Other clauses that have already been met include £4m for playing 25 games, £9m for qualifying for the first two years of the Champions League and an additional £4m for winning the tournament – despite his winners’ medal coming from when he was on loan at Bayern Munich last term.

The report adds that Barca are now keen to get the Brazilian off their books this summer whether that is via a direct transfer or even a loan agreement.

Coutinho still has two years to run on his contract and has already been out on loan once having spent last season at Bayern Munich.

Although he has featured more in Ronald Koeman’s plans this term he has been out injured throughout 2021 with a knee injury that has seen him have to undergo surgery.

He had been expected to return to be able to compete in El Clasico next month against Real Madrid but his recovery has stalled and doubts of being available for the clash have significantly increased. 

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-Daily Mail

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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