Transfer Rumour Philippe Coutinho

[Zezti]

Got legs this.




Which is a good start. Hope he's got the other limbs too.

 

[Leylo]

Catcher. You're a long standing well respected poster on this forum. Why on earth would you want to be Frank?

Yes betty!

 

[RomanReigns]

even when he was a fringe player at bayern he still was scoring goals in the champions league for them and helped them to win it last year

cracking player

 

[BigBlueConk]

Swap him for Iwobi.

 

[Seathestars]

Cant wait for him to have a bad game so I can boo and call him a RS banker all in the same breath

 

[Chrismac]

Currently long term injured, has been available for under 3 months this year... stay away. We would have to accommodate him in terms of our shape and players around him if we wanted James on the pitch at the same time, though between boths chocolate bodies we would probably never see them together.

 

[chrismpw]

I'll be frank mate, I doubt he's that bothered. They don't like him much anyway, and he didn't leave on very good terms. If he was that bothered about Liverpool he would never have left.

Once Liverpool has touched you ...
... you'll need the services of a good clinic.

 

[billybadger]

£35m to sit next to Delph....can’t we just buy a player that might actually spend half a season on the pitch...

 

[Gilbert..]

Swap him for Iwobi.

Joking aside i could imagine that could scrap any deal.
Would you take a player plus a fee
Erm. We might do. Who's involved?
Alex iwobi.
(Line goes dead)
Hello? Are you still there? Hello?

 

[FCBarça]

 

[TheSecondComing]

Apparently Talksport all over this?

 

[edge]

We have enough injury prone players already, good player when fit, but that's not often enough big no from me

 

[Yarrgh]

The fact he played for Liverpool isn't generally a reason why I wouldnt a player if I thought they were what we needed. Two of my favourite players since I've been watching were ex reds (Beardsley and Hutchison).

But it must be said, things have gotten a lot more bitter and heated between the 2 teams since then. In fact, I think Hutchison was the last player we signed who had played for them (other than Westerveld, which I don't really count) and Xavier was maybe the last player they signed who played for us. But since that time, the bad blood has gotten much worse, and I can only imagine how bad it would be if he turned out to be a Sigurdsson sized flop.

I was never fully convinced by him, and while he could produce the odd moment of magic, he often floated in and out games, very much like Sigurdsson, but with admittedly more end product. I was actually surprised by his numbers when they were pointed out to me by @Viennablue . Whether he could reproduce that form is another thing though.

Perhaps he could be a straight swap for Sigurdsson, which would be something of an upgrade, but essentially it would mean keeping the same system we employ now. If that were the case, I honestly think this would require major upgrades elsewhere, as I'm not quite sure it's working. It would essentially be paying £40m+ to tread water, with a player who will score a few more goals but still not provide any of the power or energy we require, and probably miss more games through injury. If Sigurdsson has 1 upside, it's that he is rarely unavailable for selection. Probably a consequence of not doing much when he's on the pitch.

He is also considerably smaller than Sigurdsson, and alongside Allan, James and Richarlison, Coutinho would make up 1 of the smallest, lightweight midfield units in the league. Only Doucoure would offer any presence, and that puts a greater emphasis on building a much more athletic back 4 around Godfrey.

If he could have anywhere close to the impact Beardsley or Hutchison had, then he would be worth a shot, but again, a lot would depend on other recruitment, and I'm not sure spending £40m+ on a like for like upgrade on Sigurdsson is what I would do. Maybe if we could try a loan for a year, but I couldn't see Barcelona wanting that. Maybe if we could get significant fees for some of the fringe players it would be a gamble worth taking. I'm really not sure.

It's a tough 1, because honestly, I think we need a lot of work. Hopefully Carlo and Marcel have a plan. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do.

Beardsley was a cracking player for us, and probably a player that the rs and us both let leave too early.

I have no problem with a rs player if he comes in and is good enough to improve us. It's much more palatable if he has also another club inbetween his spell there and any potential time with us. However, Coutinho whilst a decent player, is he what we need? Is this actually a thing? I fully agree that we need to be physically toughening up our midfield. I don't actually think that Allan, James and Richarlison are all that lightweight, but there's always the option of out-grocking them by any team with a few cloggers (I'm looking at the Allardyces of this world) or if they're not firing, they can't get by on physicality alone. Again, if all those players were bigger, faster and stronger it'd be great, but they'd probably all be at the Euroscab teams if that was the case.

We really do need Carlo and Marcel to come up trumps this transfer window. Last one I thought was excellent, it's just that if those players are injured, then the same suspects get exposed. We need a few more in to make sure we can cope with a few missing players - I suspect that this won't take too many to do this, as apart from the City and Chelsea who really has strength in depth past the first 11?

 

[Thomasc]

Not for me.

Im filing under “idle rumour”.

 

[Thomasc]

Not for me.

Im filing under “idle rumour”.

Actually after googling it and reading all the reports, maybe not.
Bit unexpected this!