It’s widely seen as something of an inevitability that Philippe Coutinho will end up at Barcelona one way or another, sooner or later. The Brazilian now finds himself in that realm, the realm that dictated Jose Mourinho was destined to take over at Manchester United one. The realm that, not so long ago, made it highly unlikely that Luis Suarez would remain at Anfield.
Indeed, speculation continues to swirl around Coutinho’s future at Liverpool, with a number of recent reports claiming that the Brazilian is all but certain to make the move to Camp Nou in the January transfer window. Of course, that always seemed likely after Barca’s pursuit of the playmaker in the summer, with their interest put on hold, but nonetheless, Coutinho’s exit would be a significant blow to the Reds.
There are questions, though, over whether Coutinho is even the right fit for the Catalans. Despite their impressive domestic form, with Ernesto Valverde leading Barcelona to the top of the Liga table, there is a gaping hole in their attacking line. That hole, of course, is a result of Neymar’s world record exit to Paris Saint-Germain. Barca, as a side, are still very much unbalanced.
That’s why they should be looking at another Liverpool to readdress that balance - Mohamed Salah. Of course, all eyes are on the Egyptian at the moment such has been his goalscoring form in recent weeks, but if Barcelona are truly intent on plugging the gap left by Neymar they should look to the former Chelsea and Roma winger. He would be the perfect signing.
Of course, Salah only just joined Liverpool in the summer and so extracting him from Anfield after such a short period of time could prove tricky and extremely expensive, but there have already been rumours that Real Madrid are weighing up a move for the 25-year-old next summer. Barcelona should be in the frame as well.
So impressive has Salah been for the Reds, it’s entirely possible that his own personal ambitions might quickly outgrow that of the Anfield club. Liverpool can only take the Egyptian so far, and to date they have been exceptionally beneficial for each other. But Salah, at least on this season’s form, is a player who can scale the European game all the way to the very top. Can Liverpool really take him there?
Salah has come so far in such a short space of time it’s difficult to know where his ascent will stop. “I don’t think it’s like this,” Jurgen Klopp said when asked whether Salah’s main motivation in coming back to the Premier League was to prove a point to his doubters. “Maybe it was one reason he came back, but he’s not like ‘now I will show you the real Mo Salah’.
“He’s completely relaxed. For sure he wanted to show a little bit he’s better than that, but everyone knew it already. He was a kid when he came to Chelsea, and we have heard a few times that’s quite difficult, and in that time they were really successful. It was quite difficult to come through. A little bit less muscle, a little bit less physical, and you fly through the Premier League, not like he’s flying now, but one body check, you understand. With his body shape that’s now different. “He’s a man now, he was a kid at Chelsea, now he’s a man. That’s good.”
Unfortunately, the problem for Klopp is that Salah has developed to such an extent there will be suitors, and he should be prepared for the pursuit to start sooner rather than later. It could well be the case that the German is ultimately happy to offload Coutinho to Barcelona if it keeps them away from Salah.
