Revealed: Barca only offered €89m guaranteed for Coutinho
According to James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo, in fact, the Catalans ‘only’ offered €89 million (£82m) for the 25-year-old.
Coutinho scored 13 goals and made seven assists in Premier League action last season, enough to attract interest from Barcelona, with Neymar himself being reported to have lobbied for his arrival.
As Pearce confirms, the Blaugrana were planning to add €39.3m in bonuses to the total, but they would be performance-based.
Barcelona have been savaged by some elements of the media for not spending big after losing Neymar.
One would have expected €222 million to be reinvested in strengthening their squad, which has just been battered by Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup.
Talk that Lionel Messi is leaving hasn’t reassued anybody, either.
Barcelona are now focussing on Ousmane Dembele, and news today is that they’ve tabled an €130 million offer for him.