Liverpool agree to sell Coutinho to Barcelona

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Liverpool agree to sell Coutinho to Barcelona
Coutinho was travelling to Spain on Saturday and an announcement was expected on Sunday.

Liverpool - The Brazil midfielder will move to Barcelona for a fee of up to $192 million

By AP

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Published: Sat 6 Jan 2018, 9:40 PM

Last updated: Sat 6 Jan 2018, 11:42 PM

Philippe Coutinho is close to sealing a move to Barcelona from Liverpool.
The clubs have reached an agreement that will see the Brazil midfielder move to Barcelona for a fee of up to 160 million euros ($192 million), a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Saturday. Coutinho was travelling to Spain on Saturday and an announcement was expected on Sunday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly about the deal, which would be a club record for Barcelona.
Details of the deal were first reported by The Times of London on Saturday.
Liverpool rejected three bids from Barcelona for Coutinho in August.
Coutinho will become one of the three costliest players in soccer history, after Paris Saint-Germain duo Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Barcelona has now reinvested the 222 million euro windfall it received from PSG following Neymar's world-record transfer to the French club in August.
The Spanish league leaders broke their own transfer record to sign France forward Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund in August for a fee of 105 million euros that could rise to 147 million euros. The Catalan club hoped to sign Coutinho at the same time but it has taken until the January transfer window to convince Liverpool to sell one of its most creative players.
Liverpool said the club rejected the offers for Coutinho in August because it would have been an "irresponsible" financial risk for the club. Five months on, Barcelona has negotiated a deal that Liverpool is more comfortable with.
The 25-year-old Coutinho will arrive bearing high expectations to meet the lofty standards of Barcelona's long line of skilled midfielders.
Barcelona has been searching for a player with the vision and passing talent of Xavi Hernandez since the Spain great left the club after 17 seasons to play in Qatar 2 1/2 years ago.
Coutinho will rejuvenate a midfield core led by the 33-year-old Andres Iniesta and which includes Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Paulinho, who are all 29.
His arrival means that Barcelona will likely part ways with one or more of midfielders Andre Gomes, Arda Turan and Rafinha.
Coutinho won't be able to play for Barcelona in the Champions League since he has already featured in the competition with Liverpool in the group stage. But he will be available for Barcelona's bid to reclaim the Spanish league title from Real Madrid and defend its Copa del Rey crown.
Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Coutinho made the leap from Brazilian club Vasco de Gama to Inter Milan in 2010. He got a taste of the Spanish league in a six-month loan deal at Espanyol in 2012 before he then made the move to Liverpool in January 2013, where he became one of the Premier League's most dynamic playmakers.
He scored 41 goals in 152 Premier League appearances for Liverpool, including seven in 14 matches this season.
Signed by Inter Milan at age 16 from Vasco da Gama, Coutinho made his debut for the Italian side two years later with some pundits comparing him to Neymar.
Instead of defending its Champions League title with a new star, Inter was frustrated, with the Brazilian scoring only once the whole season.
Coutinho decided to take advice from his friend, Neymar, and move to Spain instead of returning to Brazil. At Espanyol, he scored five goals in 16 games in his first season and caught the attention of Liverpool.
Coutinho's transfer is technically the second most expensive of all time as Mbappe has only moved on loan from Monaco to PSG. But there is an option to buy the forward on a permanent deal for 180 million euros at the end of the season in a deal structured to ease the financial burden on the French club this year.


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