Really? 

Wonder if this makes it less likely Barca will move for Ozil

Claudius wrote:

Yes. Coutinho done deal.
One day, one of you will explain to me how Barca in a market of one managed to bid a rumoured 146m pound for Coutinho. He's an excellent player, but I can't see how he's that much more valuable than other attacking midfielders. Plus Barca are desperate to sign him and use the last of the Neymar monies when a) they are easily winning La Liga and b) they can't use him in the Champions League. They could wait until June and wear Liverpool down. There's nobody else desperate for Coutinho.

True but his arrival means they could rest Iniesta in the league and use him exclusively in the CL . 

And who knows what might happen in the summer,  some crazy Sheikh might spend 350m on a player which will inflate transfer fees like it did last summer with the Neymar transfer. Or what if Coutinho changes his mind in the coming months?  De Gea was desperate to join Madrid few seasons ago but no longer looks as keen since his move broke down. Hit while the iron is hot 

Very happy to see this transfer go through. Hate it when a player  I like/rate happens to play for one of our rivals 

Coutinho is very underrated here. He's going to do very well for Barcelona. Given that Lemar costs about 90m, 145m for Coutinho is pretty much the going rate.

He’s been involved in so many of Liverpool’s goals this season

He’ll be a huge miss. It also sends out negative signals to guys like Salah who will is eyeballing a move to a bigger club

Clrnc wrote:

Coutinho is very underrated here. He's going to do very well for Barcelona. Given that Lemar costs about 90m, 145m for Coutinho is pretty much the going rate.

Lemar isn't worth 90m either. You could probably name at least a dozen players in his position who cost less or would have cost less who are performing better than him, Salah being the obvious example. 

Folks can talk about it being the market now, but it's simply not true. These clubs are paying massive premiums for hype, not talent. 

Ricky1985 wrote:

Can is a good player in my opinion and Liverpool were desperate to keep him.

He is and he's only coming into his own now. He'd be a great addition to our midfield. Not as good as Ramsey but probably as good or better than the rest of them.

100% agree, Klaus. Which also makes me wonder why Barcelona did not raid that league. There are a lot of fantastic players in there. I honestly think that Barca wasted that Neymar money. I fully understand the 250m pound Neymar valuation - it was a mental hail mary by PSG to secure what they could market as the best player in the world in 2-3 years time. The out of the world pricing is what you pay for rare talent - there are only 2 or 3 players in the world who you will be able to market as the best player in the world in the immediate period after Messi and Ronaldo decline.

What I do not understand is then blowing that 250m pounds entirely on Dembele on Coutinho. Because while they are good, I do not see them being rarefied air or possessing the potential to attain it. That's where you spend that kind of money. For everyone else, you spend the types of figures that you have mentioned 40-80m pounds.

On Serie A, given the gap in wealth between England and Italy, and also the fact that many of these players have buyouts (e.g, Belotti), I would harvest. Lots of options that would instantly improve us, like

Attack: Belotti, Insigne, Icardi, Mertens, Dybala
Midfield: Naingollan, Jorginho
Defense: Koulibaly, Manolas, Caldara

You could go on forever, especially with attackers. Such a quality league.

That's a good point. Liverpool themselves got Coutinho off Inter Milan for about 6m. I said it at that time he was a talent we should be gambling on but it seems like we like to gamble on rejects like Welbeck and Evans.

Wenger never seem to take Serie A seriously for some reason.

I have a feeling that there is some seriously dodgy dealing going on in Series A. Can't think of many other reasons why players from there are so undesirable.

Captain wrote:

I have a feeling that there is some seriously dodgy dealing going on in Series A. Can't think of many other reasons why players from there are so undesirable.

Elaborate.  

It does feel like Juve secretly have some first refusal gatekeeper clause on all the players in the league

Klaus wrote:

goon wrote:

Folks can talk about it being the market now, but it's simply not true. These clubs are paying massive premiums for hype, not talent. 

Yep. Case in point, Salah cost like £35 million this summer. Marcos Alonso didn't even cost a third of that last year, and he's been one of the best players in Premier League ever since he arrived at Stamford Bridge.

We could probably have guys like Jorginho, Nainggolan and Manolas for around £40 million each, and they'd all be likely to come. No idea why we don't like Serie A players, but there's a golden opportunity this summer. Most of the league is poor financially.

I bet if Jorginho switched to play for Brazil, Barca would've been all over him. As you said, they seem to love Brazilian midfielders and the hype/marketability they bring. I'm not convinced he would cost 40m though, the last big player Napoli sold was Higuain and they got a ton of money for him. Lazio's Loltito is currently putting a 100m euro price tag on Milinkovic-Savic right now. 

I think the thought of Italians not traveling well is another reason why prices hasn't gone up. Outside of Verratti, there's not many other high end Italian players playing outside of Serie A. 

One could make a case for the foreigners in Serie A though. 

Claudius wrote:

Captain wrote:

I have a feeling that there is some seriously dodgy dealing going on in Series A. Can't think of many other reasons why players from there are so undesirable.

Elaborate.  

Nothing to elaborate really - just a gut feeling.

Mahrez to Liverpool likely

Fuck all to Arsenal also likely.

Gurgen wrote:

Fuck all to Arsenal also likely.

Does that catch-all include Johnny Evans?