Barcelona may start listening to offers for Coutinho
With half an hour to go in Wednesday night's Clasico, Philippe Coutinho was taken off by Ernesto Valverde in yet another underwhelming performance by the club's all-time record signing, with patience starting to wear thin
The Brazilian midfielder still has the backing of those at the club, but a possible sale in the summer cannot be ruled out as the Blaugrana are beginning to put feelers out that they may be willing to listen to offers if his performance does not improve before the end of the campaign.
Given the injury to Ousmane Dembele, that was viewed as a perfect opportunity for Coutinho to establish himself and force his way into Valverde's starting line-up, displaying the quality that Barcelona fans know he possesses.
Instead, he has often stayed on the periphery of matches and looks like a shadow of the player Barcelona paid 155 million euros for back in January 2018; a couple of goals in recent weeks, of which one was a penalty, may cause some people to think that Coutinho is back, but that is not the case.
In terms of his defensive play, which is often a sign of effort, he did not track Rodrigo Moreno's run last weekend as Valencia opened the scoring at the Camp Nou in a 2-2 draw.
Valverde has tried his best to instil confidence in the Brazilian, keeping him in the line-up throughout this recent run of matches, yet the return of Dembele from injury will make the Coutinho's life all the more difficult.
His options of getting into the side are growing slimmer as it is difficult to even imagine Coutinho as the forward-thinking player in a three-man midfield, particularly given the improvement by his compatriot, Arthur.
Nevertheless, there is still the hope that he can turn things around in the final stretch of the season.
While the club are not going to put him up for sale, they may be persuaded into listening to offers; after all, everyone in this side, apart from Lionel Messi, has a price tag. If a good bid comes in for Coutinho and his form does not improve, the club would seriously consider it.
It should not be forgotten that Barcelona need to recoup some money after spending 75 million euros on the upcoming signing of Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who could earn a whopping 16m euros gross.
Ivan Rakitic has been one of the names linked with a potential exit, but his agent, Arturo Canales, said that it is impossible that the Croatian will leave the Camp Nou this summer.
The main issue with Coutinho is that because Barcelona bought him for such a large amount, they would want to recover most of that fee, something that would be difficult to do at this present moment.
The Brazilian midfielder still has the backing of those at the club, but a possible sale in the summer cannot be ruled out as the Blaugrana are beginning to put feelers out that they may be willing to listen to offers if his performance does not improve before the end of the campaign.
Given the injury to Ousmane Dembele, that was viewed as a perfect opportunity for Coutinho to establish himself and force his way into Valverde's starting line-up, displaying the quality that Barcelona fans know he possesses.
Instead, he has often stayed on the periphery of matches and looks like a shadow of the player Barcelona paid 155 million euros for back in January 2018; a couple of goals in recent weeks, of which one was a penalty, may cause some people to think that Coutinho is back, but that is not the case.
In terms of his defensive play, which is often a sign of effort, he did not track Rodrigo Moreno's run last weekend as Valencia opened the scoring at the Camp Nou in a 2-2 draw.
Valverde has tried his best to instil confidence in the Brazilian, keeping him in the line-up throughout this recent run of matches, yet the return of Dembele from injury will make the Coutinho's life all the more difficult.
His options of getting into the side are growing slimmer as it is difficult to even imagine Coutinho as the forward-thinking player in a three-man midfield, particularly given the improvement by his compatriot, Arthur.
Nevertheless, there is still the hope that he can turn things around in the final stretch of the season.
While the club are not going to put him up for sale, they may be persuaded into listening to offers; after all, everyone in this side, apart from Lionel Messi, has a price tag. If a good bid comes in for Coutinho and his form does not improve, the club would seriously consider it.
It should not be forgotten that Barcelona need to recoup some money after spending 75 million euros on the upcoming signing of Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who could earn a whopping 16m euros gross.
Ivan Rakitic has been one of the names linked with a potential exit, but his agent, Arturo Canales, said that it is impossible that the Croatian will leave the Camp Nou this summer.
The main issue with Coutinho is that because Barcelona bought him for such a large amount, they would want to recover most of that fee, something that would be difficult to do at this present moment.
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