Liverpool

Phil Thompson said Liverpool should replace Coutinho with Suarez, Aguero or Alli :laughing: His knowledge of football must be a state if he can only list these famous faces as replacements ā€“ Iā€™m surprised he didnā€™t throw in Ronaldo and Bale too. Heā€™s right by saying if you donā€™t ask you donā€™t get, but come on, heā€™s lost the plot if he thinks Liverpool have a chance of signing any of those.

PT

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While unlikely and a tad ambitious, it is the correct mentality imo.

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Liverpool have rejected a third bid from Barcelona for Philippe Coutinho - believed to be in the region of Ā£114m.

Last week, the Reds rejected a Ā£90m bid from the Spanish giants for the 25-year-old Brazil attacking midfielder, who then submitted a transfer request.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/40979106

Crazy stuff

They are basically doing what we are doing with Sanchez. They want to keep him, even if he is unhappy at Liverpool. They know they canā€™t replace him.

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Rejected Ā£114m for Phillipe Coutinho :flushed:

Heā€™s their best player and seemingly irreplaceable st this point, in this summer awash with cash of so many people saying ā€œnoā€ to each other.

Well done Liverpool tbh

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What I donā€™t get about Coutinho is why on earth youā€™d sign a 5 year contract in Jan 2017 with no release clause as youā€™re about to enter your best years. Doesnā€™t deserve his move for being so stupid

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With the difference that they have him on a 5 years contract.

Honestly I donā€™t think anyone was expecting Barcelona to be interested in him after a year and no club is going to hand out release clauses if they donā€™t have to.

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Unfortunately everyone knows Barca have the money. Liverpool donā€™t have to accept stupid bids.

Itā€™s not even about the Barcelona interest at this point - I just donā€™t get you wouldnā€™t keep your options open knowing youā€™re a top PL player. Itā€™s not like he needed the security of a new LFC contract so what was the incentive to sign? I think he saw money being offered and bit.

If I was his agent iā€™d be insisting on a RC, knowing heā€™s LFC best player and that anything can happen in football. I think heā€™s been poorly advised tbh

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Perhaps weā€™re all just too used to players getting their way. Might take a little while to adjust to a new reality as the pendulum swings back the other way a little bit.

First it was the matchgoing fan that ceased to be of much relevance to a club, now it seems the players themselves, or rather their valuations, are not so definitive to clubs in the top leagues

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Money and that he was bound to a contract at them for another 3 years anyway.

And meh, RC arenā€™t handed out in the PL unless youā€™re prime Suarez and if there was one that clause would have to be high enough for maybe 2-3 clubs in the world being able to trigger it, if at all. It would still have to be north of what Barcelona is offering, considering the money in the league even last summer.

Tbh they should probably take the money for him. Heā€™s their best player, but even in this inflated market thatā€™s paying over the top for him. As I saw someone tweet earlier (cba to find it), both Liverpool and Barcelona are doing stupid things to prove they are a big club (offering that much money and Liverpool rejecting it :laughing:).

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Haha thatā€™s a nice turn of phrase.

My Liverpool fan has just informed me though that the bids are nothing like the sums they are reported asā€¦ (which makes sense, because turning down Ā£114m for Coutinho just doesnā€™t)

The Ā£82m was supposedly paid over like 5 years and the add-ons are very unreachable for the most part.

Apparently the bids are a bit insulting, I suppose they will finally sell him when BarƧa stops doing their Catalan penny-pinching thing and gives a good offer.

Tbh, though, I would be looking to seal Dembele first, because heā€™s the difference maker and the real replacement for Neymar. They need both but Iā€™m surprised they are not making more progress on the first.

What would you say if Alexis was 25 and had years left on his contract? The last time Liverpool took a great price for their best player they ended up investing that money in Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli and then floating around 5th-7th.

If it was the case that you could take your money and buy a legitimate replacement for the same or a bit less then itā€™s worth selling but if all youā€™re going to end up with is money in the bank and a worse team then whatā€™s the point, even for Ā£115m? Even Barcelona are struggling to seal deals at over Ā£100m so I doubt Liverpool can have much hope of coming home with an adequate replacement in the next 10 days.

Theyā€™ve been on the fringes since they sold Suarez and itā€™s only now theyā€™re putting a team together and are back in the CL. Itā€™d be silly to let finance get in the way of football when they donā€™t seem to be desperate for the money. Iā€™m sure Coutinho will be professional enough if the window shuts and heā€™s been forced to stay. If he signed a new deal he doesnā€™t really have a leg to stand on.

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If theyā€™re able to use the extra funds to over pay for Naby Keita (theyā€™ve already had a near Ā£70m offer rejected, probably looking at very close to Pogba money) then go ahead and sell, if not hold onto him because the chances of being able to attract similar talent are unlikely imo.

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Thatā€™s very true. But I think the two are not wholly comparable. For one thing Suarez was much more important for Liverpool, they were never going to properly replace him. Countinho is important, but this type of player is easier to replace than 30+ goals in a season.

The ball in certainly in their court though, with Countinho on a 5 year contract. With it being a world cup year heā€™d be stupid to further alienate himself from the manager (although I assume heā€™ll do so until the end of the window).

Also, I agree @AbouCuellar. Barcelona should be pursuing Demebel over Countinho. Heā€™s the player that could potentially replace Neymar in the future.

Thatā€™s because Dortmund want 150m Euros for him and Barcelona arenā€™t willing to pay that much (yet).

Money being thrown about during this Summer is just simply mental. Though fiar play to Liverpool for standing their ground, difficult no doubt to turn that sorta money down. This could well run until deadline day.

They do look fucking shit. Lucky to make the top 4 this season.