Liverpool reject third Barcelona bid for Philippe Coutinho worth £118million… but the real transfer figure is nowhere near that
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LIVERPOOL rejected a third bid from Barcelona for Philippe Coutinho worth £118million on Friday.
Many were surprised Jurgen Klopp and Co turned down the astronomical sum - particularly given the player's desire to join the Spanish giants.
Coutinho, 25, handed in a transfer request at Liverpool earlier this month in a desperate plea to join Barca just hours after club chiefs said he was going nowhere.
The Reds have already rejected bids of £72m and £90m this summer, to boot.
However, the real reason Liverpool turned their nose up at the mega-money deal has been revealed... and you can see why.
Barcelona were offering the Premier League outfit just £80m in guaranteed fees - and even that was spread out over FIVE years.
On top of that, Barca had inserted a host of improbable clauses in a bid to make their offer seem more generous.
In fact, many of those extra millions would almost certainly never see the inside of Liverpool's bank account.
Barcelona's £118m bid for Coutinho, in detail...
- £80million spread over five years
- Add-on for Barcelona winning multiple trophies in the same season
- Add-on for Barcelona winning multiple Champions League titles
- Add-on for Philippe Coutinho winning the Ballon d'Or
- Add on for Barcelona winning multiple trophies AND Coutinho winning the Ballon d'Or in the same season
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For starters, the Reds would see a clause activated should Barcelona win multiple trophies in one season.
While that sounds reasonably plausible, Barca don't appear to be the force they once were in the Xavi-Andres Inista era of midfield dominance... and they've just lost Neymar.
Liverpool would also see money if Barcelona won multiple Champions League titles of if Coutinho wins the Ballon d'Or during his career.
A further big-money add-on would see the Reds cash-in if Barcelona won multiple trophies in the same season AND Coutinho wins the Ballon d'Or that year.
In essence, the Catalan giants were offering Liverpool just £16m this year in return for Coutinho.
You can see why Klopp said no to that...