Philippe Coutinho Liverpool Return Reportedly “Impossible”

Following news Barcelona had gone and slashed the asking price for Philippe Coutinho to €50M in an effort to offload the Brazilian playmaker who turns 28 tomorrow, it was probably inevitable that his name would begin to once again be linked with Liverpool.

From using some of Barcelona’s outstanding balance from buying him in the first place to help cover the fee to loaning him for a season, perhaps with an option to buy, plenty of tabloids and fans were quick to get in on the action. But it’s not going to happen.

So says The Athletic’s Simon Hughes, who reached out to his sources within the club and got back a simple answer: “Impossible.” Only the impossible was in all-caps such was the vociferousness of the denial of any possibility of Coutinho rejoining the Reds.

Not that anyone should be surprised by that. Coutinho wanted out, and he got his wish—and it’s gone terribly for him. And now, there’s no obvious role for him in this Liverpool side. Which given his age and wage, makes his coming back impossible.

Leaving out the transfer fee, which is still rather significant in the midst of a pandemic that forced the Reds to shelve plans to bring in Timo Werner, Coutinho—who, again, turns 28 tomorrow—currently earns more than the highest paid Liverpool player.

For this Liverpool side, Coutinho would be a bench player on massive wages entering the tail end of his prime years. Of course the Reds aren’t bringing him back. Not that the reality of the situation will likely be enough to ever entirely kill the speculation.