REDS SHOULD HAVE SOLD COUTINHO TO BARCA – SOUNESS
LIVERPOOL should have sold playmaker Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona, according to former captain Graeme Souness.
The Catalan club made several bids in excess of £100m before deadline day but Liverpool remained steadfast in their refusal to sell.
Souness says, for that sort of money, he should have gone – comparing him unfavourably to other big money signings Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
“I would have accepted an offer in excess of £100m for [Coutinho],” Souness told The Sunday Times.
“I know Paris Saint-Germain have paid £198m for Neymar and another £166m for Kylian Mbappe from Monaco, for his potential as an 18-year-old, but I would argue that for that sort of money they have to be game-changers on a regular basis. I would have taken Barcelona’s offer.”
Now that he is staying however, Souness says Coutinho must “have some respect” for the club and perform on the pitch.
The 25-year-old missed Liverpool’s opening five matches of the season with a back injury which then mysteriously healed in time for him to appear for Brazil last week.
“You would like to think, given that the boy signed a five-year contract only in January, he would have some respect for Liverpool,” Souness added.
“The common sense way would have been for him to turn round, so it was coming from his mouth, and say: ‘I’ll stay another year.’
“That would have been doing the right thing by the club and the club doing the right thing by him, as happened with [Luis] Suarez.”
Even if Jorge Sampaoli’s side fail to lock up automatic qualification, and finish fifth, they would still be favourites to qualify via a two-leg playoff against a team from Oceania, almost certain to be New Zealand.
Yet the gloom that has enveloped the Argentinian squad throughout the qualifiers means that little is being taken for granted ahead of today’s game at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.
An uninspiring 0-0 draw with Uruguay in Montevideo on Thursday left Argentina level on 23 points with fourth-placed Chile, who lead on goal difference.
Sampaoli is expected to persist with the bulk of the team who started against Uruguay, with Messi leading a potent front three that features Paulo Dybala and Mauro Icardi. Javier Mascherano could return for Twitter