With Barcelona engrossed in a transformative phase on and off the field, finances have been a delicate matter for the club.
After the reign of Josep Maria Bartomeu, who put the Blaugrana in economic debt with big-money signings and outrageous contracts offered, the current hierarchy is left picking up the pieces.
However, Barcelona may receive an unforeseen gift in the form of Phillipe Coutinho’s potential departure from Aston Villa.
Coutinho’s transfer could leave money for Barça
According to Gabriel Sans of Mundo Deportivo, Philippe Coutinho appears set to leave Aston Villa and join Qatar’s Al Duhail, with personal terms already agreed.
Barça would receive a financial “gift” from his move, given their entitlement to 50% of any future sale.
As iterated before, Al Duhail and the Brazilian midfielder have already agreed personal terms. The clubs would now be in negotiations, although nothing has been finalised as of yet.
For Barcelona, even a slight bump in finances could go a long way in their current economic climate.
Having signed Coutinho for a mammoth €160 million, Barça were necessitated to sell Coutinho to the English club for a meager €20 million sum, making a significant loss on him.
But Mateu Alemany ensured the club could squeeze out as much financial gain as possible by inserting a 50% sell-on clause so that the Catalans can profit from a future sale.
Even so, an agreement between the clubs is pending, and Barcelona await how the Brazilian’s future is resolved.
Coutinho’s time at Barcelona
Barcelona signed Coutinho from Liverpool in January 2018 in a club-record deal, but the operation proved to be an unmitigated disaster.
The Brazilian never got going at the Catalan club and after having had loan spells away at Bayern Munich and Aston Villa, he joined the latter permanently last summer.
Coutinho made 106 appearances for the Blaugrana, managing 25 goals and 14 assists.
After Barcelona received €1.5 million for the sale of Malcom, who joined Al Hilal from Zenit St. Petersburg for €60 million, Coutinho’s potential move to Al Duhail would be the second transaction with rights that would bring in money for Barça.
