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Liverpool clears air on Coutinho’s Barcelona Champions League ‘clause’

Liverpool will not receive a near-£5m bonus from Barcelona after Philippe Coutinho won the Champions League with Bayern Munich.

The Reds sold the Brazil international to Barca in January 2018 for a £142million, making the attacking midfielder the third most expensive player in history at the time.

However, Coutinho failed to settle with the La Liga side and joined German champions Bayern Munich on loan 12 months ago, before netting twice late on in their remarkable 8-2 win over his parent club in the Champions League quarter-final.

Liverpool’s deal with Barcelona – one which saw sporting director Michael Edwards negotiate a clause not about the UEFA Champions League but one that prevented Barca from returning for any more players until 2020 – was worth an initial £106m with a further £36m of add-ons.

The Reds are just £4.4m away from receiving the full fee for Coutinho from Barcelona and the ECHO understands the final installment is due to be paid when certain appearance-based milestones are met with Barca themselves.

That means Liverpool won’t be given any cash boost by Bayern’s success in Europe’s premier competition this term.

Hansi Flick’s side beat Paris Saint-Germain in the final, but the Reds aren’t due an additional windfall.

Liverpool are paid £4.4m (€5m) for every 15 appearances made with Barca, meaning the Reds have so far banked £22m for the 75 matches Coutinho has played at Camp Nou.

For every time Barcelona qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the Reds would be given a payment of £4.4m, meaning they have earned near £9m over the past two seasons.

The final sum will be paid if and when the 28-year-old makes it to 90 games for the Blaugrana.

However, given Coutinho is out of favour in Barcelona, the likelihood of Liverpool earning that sum is unlikely at this stage, with the player’s future the subject of regular and intense speculation.

Arsenal are the latest club to be credited with a move for the attacker with Coutinho’s agent, Kia Joorabchian, stating earlier this year that talks about a return to the Premier League have taken place, privately.

“Of course the Premier League is something that he has always enjoyed playing in, loved playing in and would love to come back and play in,” said Joorabchian.

“Everything is a possibility I think. The situation is what is going to be the financial conditions of all the clubs including Barcelona and all the Premier League clubs.


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