Coutinho Move Proves a Gap
- Jordan Tavener
- Jan 11, 2018
- 5 min read
Phillipe Coutinho's move to Barcelona is good business for Liverpool, getting around £145million for the Brazilian. However, their reluctance to let him go was seized when everything in their power had been done, with the lure of playing for the Spanish giants being impossible to turn down for Coutinho. But his move to Catalonia proves that we still cannot compete with the two biggest clubs in the world, Barcelona and Real Madrid, but why is it and what can we do?

Phillipe Coutinho becomes Barcelona's record signing
Sometimes people in England are thought to be wrong by saying that our league is the most competitive, for example Manchester City are running away with the title, but that is not necessarily what we mean. We have six teams that are of a really high standard, who are competing for the four Champions League spaces, whereas you look at the teams in Germany or France and the standard is not as good. We also mean that in the Premier League, anyone can beat anyone, that's the beauty of it.
In the last four or five years, where the the TV money has increased, the quality of the teams in the lower end of the table has certainly improved. For example, Huddersfield Town were promoted via the play-offs last season, spent over £30million in the summer and now sit 11th in the league. It is hard for teams outside of the top six to break into it, but all of the teams below are very even.
With the money that Premier League teams have, and the popularity of the league, it is hard to imagine that we do not have the biggest and most attractive clubs in the world. When Paul Pogba arrived we all thought that it could be the turning point. But since then, 18 months ago, four players have moved for more money, that is if you include the Mbappe deal to PSG.

Neymar's £200million move to PSG has changed transfer fees completely.
So why are these players choosing to go elsewhere? It's simple. The dream for so many players is to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona. They have been the biggest clubs in the world for some time and Spanish clubs have dominated Europe for the last decade. The lure of playing with the best player in the world is also there, with many wanting to play with Messi or Ronaldo, and Spain is therefore, the place to go. But how can we change this?
It seems that both players are linked with a move away from their clubs every year, but even if they don't, they're both in their thirties now, so the baton will possibly pass to someone else in the next five years. PSG moved quickly to get two of the most likely players to succeed them in Neymar and Mbappe, so they could, over the next few years, become the biggest club in Europe, but their league is so dull that not everyone will want to move there. Hence the reason why the best French players often move elsewhere.
How competitive our teams are is also likely to play a huge part in it and we have taken a step forward this season by ensuring all five English teams have progressed to the last 16 of the Champions League. Our biggest clubs are all moving forward as well. In the last few years, Tottenham have been given permission and are now not far away from getting their new stadium built, Liverpool increased Anfield's capacity, Chelsea are looking to renovate their ground, and Manchester City have also expanded their maximum attendance. There are big plans for these clubs and hopefully in the coming years, we will have a genuine fight again for the Premier League title, where three or more teams look like they could win it.

Tottenham's new stadium will also host NFL games as well as football
Despite us having success though, it seems that we will always be behind the two Spanish giants. The romanticism of playing for Barcelona with a bunch of incredible players, or becoming a Galactico for Los Blancos, these options seem more of a dream than going to play for one of the worlds best coaches in England where you are part of the most entertaining league in the world. Can we really compete? Liverpool had won their Champions League group and look as if they could get into the quarter finals, and Coutinho will be ineligible to play for Barcelona so I question his decision to move now. Although he can now play La Liga games for the rest of the season and they are seemingly cruising to a league title, which will help ease him in, ready for next season.
Even if Manchester City now spent the next five years dominating the Premier League and won a couple of Champions League title's, you have to say players would still have the dream to play in Spain. Even when Real Madrid spent eight years winning just one league title and were waiting 12 years for their tenth Champions League trophy, they still signed Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and many, many more, breaking the transfer record five times in the 21st century.
How Liverpool now spend the money they got for the Brazilian playmaker is crucial and will say a lot about them and English football. When they sold Luis Suarez they spread the money across the squad and didn't sign a good enough replacement. They have already signed Van Dijk which set them back half of the money that they got for Coutinho, but they need to spent a significant amount on getting someone not far off the midfielder's level. Unless they can get a good bit of scouting done.
There are rumours of Naby Keita coming in early but RB Leipzig seem unwilling to do so, and he's not exactly the same sort of player as Coutinho. A lot of people think he's similar to Kante but he's not. He is quite unique. He's a good athlete with good physical attributes but can get forward well and contribute to attacks, and also likes a long-shot just like the player on his way out. He also wouldn't be able to play in the Champions League though due to his participation in the group stages with the German side, so they may resist bringing him in yet, and it is still not confirmed how much they would have to pay.

Naby Keita is due to join Liverpool at the end of the season
There are reports of them bringing in Dani Ceballos from Real Madrid, but again that would be one of their fringe players, not one of their best players. It is interesting though to see when we will see one of the best players from Barca or Real come to England rather than the other way around, but hopefully we're not far away. For now though, it seems we're still some way behind.
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