Players don’t have the power... which is why Coutinho will be staying
I HONESTLY can’t see how Liverpool can sell Philippe Coutinho now... and that is good news for football.
By issuing that statement and making it so emphatic, by sticking their necks out so far, they really can’t turn back. And everything I’ve ever seen from the American owners tells me they have absolutely no intention of doing it.
Their decision shows me clubs still hold some of the cards, even though all the noise surrounding the game these days screams that players are in complete control.
It’s funny, because Liverpool probably realised they were in a stronger position with Coutinho than they first thought, because of their own experience in trying to sign Naby Keita.
They wanted him, they pursued him, put in several bids – and were turned down flat. The player wanted to go, but quite correctly Leipzig had the right to say no.
The club had the power after all. Keita has already indicated he’ll get his head down and play because he has a contract, and he’ll wait for next summer.
Coutinho probably has to do the same. I’m the first to say you can’t have an unhappy player at a club, but he really doesn’t look the sort to sulk all season.
There’s also a World Cup on the horizon, and people are saying he’ll want to be in the Brazil side for that, so he can’t pull up stumps. I don’t even think that matters. In my career, I never needed a reason to play, I never looked forward to anything down the line. I left Liverpool because I wasn’t playing. It did my head in when I wasn’t, and no matter what you hear, most pros are like that. So I can’t see Coutinho saying he won’t play if he doesn’t get his move.
Let’s face it, he’s had his head turned. By the agent, or the lure of Barcelona. He’s decided his only chance of getting the move is to throw a strop and create as much chaos as possible so they’ll think, ‘Sod it, get him off the books’.
I sort of understand that, though I use the phrase in the loosest ways. He’s a Brazilian with Spanish links, and you can see he’d probably want to go to Barca.
Yet he signed a contract seven months ago. A massive contract, because he wanted to stay at Liverpool, because he thought Anfield was a better option than the Nou Camp.
Don’t believe me? Well, he and his agent arranged an interview themselves, one that had nothing to do with the club at all, the day after he signed and said exactly that.
Said he didn’t want to go to Barca because: “I believe in finding somewhere you can express yourself, play without fear, play with everything you have. When you find that place, stay.”
He said Liverpool was that place and added: “You define the success of a player by his loyalty or his titles, or both. I want to win titles. Five years is my new contract... it gives me that opportunity.”
I think he should stop digging now. He’s already given himself a major problem with the fans, and he’s got to make sure he doesn’t go any deeper.
His best option now is to wait until September 1, then play the season of his life, win something... and well, Luis Suarez got his move eventually.
As Jurgen Klopp said, every player has a price when the time is right. Next summer may be the right time.