Exactly this. If we do t make a major step up now then it's Salah next. We'll forever lose our top players.
And we bought before selling Coutinho. Only sticking point is Keita isn't here yet. If VVD and Keita both came last summer, Coutinho would have been sold last summer. So clubs think we've got 100mil plus to spend but we've already spent it. We might buy someone but it won't be anything to do with Coutinho or his money imo.
What if we are going to buy but, because we want the right player rather than anyone to fill a void, they won't be joining until the summer?
Not often you hear the statement "wing time to buy", is usually "no value in the January window". Although I suppose the latter helps build the former statement. Clubs don't want to lose players mid-seaon so there is a premium on their heads.
Just read a pretty good twitter post saying that a player that is truly worth £146m would almost ensure his team a title push. Much like Suarez did for us. Couthino was a good player BUT he wasn't a Suarez. The Spanish league will no doubt make him look better but I think that given that he wanted to leave, we've got a good deal....the only issue is with the timing, which stinks...but who knows what had been threatened. We played our hand and we have what we have, when we have it. If Keita was here, I'm sure we'd not be whinging.
VVD is probably thinking 'oh look this is what i did at Southampton' Tbh he would have known about the Coutinho situation and known it was only a matter of time.
We seem to have a habit of selling our star player in January... Mascherano, Torres, Coutinho... Edit: ignore that, Mascherano went at the end of the summer window
Perhaps so. He'll also know that his new club will roll over just as his last club did. As will all the players (if they didn't know that already).
he looks like a big old fashioned lump but actually he is pretty good on the ball only downside is his defending is a bit iffy.
I think we should all say bye and thanks for the entertainment to coutinho. he gave a good accounting this season once he got over his mysterious back issue We have been greatly entertained by his magic feet and sumptuous passing and he should be welcomed back like Alonso was and is here imo. I will post a few vids later here but just to kick off. great player. lifted any game he played in for us. it is after all an entertainment industry.
Nearly every club in football would roll over for 142mil. He's currently the 2nd highest transfer ever so it's hard to just keep the player. Barca. PSG. Real Madrid. Man City are probably the only clubs that could not roll over. The fact is we're not in that group financially. We'll be fine without him. Bizarrely we get more success when Coutinho doesn't play for us anyway. Strange one but that's what the stats say.
