Philippe Coutinho: Barcelona needs to sell the player to Chelsea to fund other player needs

Barcelona is reportedly bracing themselves for a massive loss in Euros if Coutinho stays at the club following this campaign. This gives the indication they must sell and cut their losses.

Chelsea and others interested in Phil could benefit from the fact Barcelona needs to offload players to help fund other priorities like Marc-André ter Stegen. Coutinho’s transfer away from the Camp Nou becomes instrumental to next season’s spending.

Bayern Munich’s lack of Philippe Coutinho enthusiasm as a permanent fixture has stirred the pot in Barcelona’s business plan for 2020-2021. They need him to leave as much as they want him gone, but at what cost are they willing to offload the attacking midfielder?

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Coutinho’s wages too high

No denying the little Magician will need to work his magic to get into the first-team if he resumes in Catalan colours. There is no way he will return and become a starter immediately.

The only thing that would allow for this… If he is not sold, the Spanish side would have to justify leaving a player who earns €13.5m (£12.4m) on the bench and will be forced into playing him. Similar to Gareth Bale at rivals, Real Madrid.

The Brazilian is still the fourth-highest earner at the Camp Nou. Why would you leave €274k-per-week (£240k) on the sideline, week in and week out? Especially in these times, it would be hard to keep your top earners happy.

"Coutinho has a record that exceeds 30 million gross per season. Paying that amount for Barcelona is a real problem. The wage bill is already through the roof and with the decline in income the ratio between the two concepts has risen in a very dangerous way. And next season, higher expenses are looming with Ter Stegen’s million-dollar renovation, which has asked for 18 million net a year. It would be a difficult expense to bear."

The Liverpool sale still playing its part:

"There is another concept that causes the footballer’s annual spending to be even higher. These are the variables that Barcelona signed with Liverpool two years ago when they signed him. There is a 20 million bonus if Coutinho reaches the figure of 100 games with the Barça team. (Via: us.marca.com)"

Everybody needs to get paid. The chances of him outplaying Antoine Griezmann if he returns are quite limited. The chances of him not making his century of games played would also be impossible, as the club would not like to let him waste away on the bench, as mentioned earlier.

The situation? A difficult one for the club, as well as for the player. The only winners here would be the team gaining his signature.

Working in Chelsea’s favour

Chelsea needs to sign an array of players to add quality and experience to reach their next step in their development under Frank Lampard. If they can get players of Philippe Coutinho’s talent and exposure to The Top Flight, they can spend more millions on areas that need more concentration.

They need more work at the back, as they lack defensively. But taking advantage of a team needing to sell is sometimes the best business that can be completed for those on the receiving end of the deal.