Costly Coutinho transfer could open transfer floodgates
PHILIPPE Coutinho’s ß160-million (R2.4-billion) deal to join Barcelona is likely to unleash a series of big-money transfers, not least as Liverpool seek to reinvest the proceeds.
It took the third-largest amount yet paid for a footballer to prise Coutinho away from Liverpool.
The rumour mill has already linked the club with Leicester’s Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez as a possible replacement for the Brazilian playmaker.
Neither club has officially confirmed or denied the deal, despite reports from France saying that Mahrez would have a medical soon at Liverpool.
The club’s No 1 target, according to many reports, is French international forward Thomas Lemar, part of the impressive Monaco team that reached the Champions League semifinals last year but which has since been dismantled.
Arsenal had a £92-million bid (R1.5-billion) for Lemar, 22, rejected in the summer transfer window, and the player is reportedly keen to work with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
Monaco have already crashed out of the Champions League this season, so Lemar could be open to a move, although coach Leonardo Jardim is reluctant to see one of his remaining star names leave.
“Monaco don’t usually make big sales in the winter,” Jardim said last week.
Other reports have linked Liverpool with Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, an increasingly divisive figure at the Emirates.
His contract expires in the northern summer, meaning Arsenal either cash in on the Chilean now or risk seeing him walk away for nothing.
Before the January transfer window even opened, Liverpool moved to address their defensive frailties by bringing in Dutch centre-back Virgil van Dijk from Southampton for £75-million (R1.2-billion), one of the most expensive transfers in history.
Arsenal, who were dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship side Nottingham Forest on Sunday, face a similar dilemma with Mesut Ozil, who is also out of contract in the summer.
Meanwhile, Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has admitted that he has been in talks about bringing Theo Walcott back to the club from Arsenal.
The enormous TV receipts enjoyed by Premier League clubs force many into the transfer market to compete with the biggest earners in their own division.
So Everton, still far from safe from relegation after a dreadful start to the season, have signed a much-needed centre-forward in Cenk Tosun on a 4½- year deal worth a reported £27-million (R454-million).
The forward has scored 41 goals in 96 Turkish Super Lig games for Besiktas.
Leicester City will fight to keep Mahrez, who was one of the driving forces when the unfashionable club won the Premier League title in 2016.
But if Mahrez is tempted away – and he reportedly has a clause in his contract allowing him to leave if a substantial bid comes along in this window – Leicester’s French boss Claude Puel could turn to Hatem ben Arfa, who has failed to break into Paris Saint-Germain’s star-studded first team.
Ben Arfa has previous Premier League experience with Newcastle and he worked with Puel at Nice in the 2015-16 season.
PSG could be prepared to let Ben Arfa leave cheaply as the Qatari-backed club need to reduce their wage bill to comply with financial fair play rules. Their spending reached stratospheric levels last summer with the world- record arrival of Neymar for ß222- million (R3.3-billion), followed by the acquisition of the lavishly talented French teenager Kylian Mbappe. – AFP