Barcelona have come out triumphantly in the media again and said they’re going to sign Coutinho in January.
“We are ready to buy Coutinho in the winter market, or any player the technical staff request,” Barcelona’s chief executive Òscar Grau told the Guardian. “But it is important to adjust ourselves, so if there are to be arrivals, there must be exits as well. We must forget about the price paid for Neymar last summer. After taxes we received about €188m in income and a direct financial impact on the club’s treasury of €144m.”
They made similar comments throughout the entire summer and it’s certain they were doing a lot more to the player in private – considering his transfer request the day before the season started.
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Journalist Chris Bascombe of the Telegraph has joined those asking that why when Barca so flagrantly disobey the rules, it gets so plainly ignored.
Some clubs tap players up = “Scandal!!! Fine them now” (rightly) Barcelona do it = “Well, it’s what they do. Modern game innit?” https://t.co/T7HtWpVTVs
— Chris Bascombe (@_ChrisBascombe) October 11, 2017
In a separate tweet, he questioned why Liverpool would even need to report the Spaniards, considering how public their tapping up is.
Given the numerous quotes since last summer, not entirely sure why they need to be reported. I presume FIFA can read.
— Chris Bascombe (@_ChrisBascombe) October 11, 2017
In many ways, Liverpool had to take their medicine in regards to the Virgil van Dijk pursuit.
We messed up by alerting the newspapers we’d agreed personal terms before agreeing a fee with Southampton, they reported us to the Premier League and we publicly apologised – unable to make a bid until the Saints gave us express permission.
But why are we not doing the same to Barca? Why are they immune to the sanctions imposed on other teams?
It wouldn’t be a Premier League matter, but one FIFA might take seriously, if we at least stuck up for ourselves.
Coutinho is contracted for four and a half years and not once have we given any kind of permission for them to talk to him, while actively discouraging bids, too.
What steps can we now take to protect ourselves?