Philippe Coutinho underwent knee surgery on Saturday, January 2, which means that he will be unable to play for Barcelona for the next three months. This is yet another setback for the Brazilian midfielder, who for one reason or another has failed to succeed in Catalonia.
The 28-year-old joined Barcelona from Liverpool during the January transfer window in 2018. He was the player that the Blaugrana had their heart set on after losing Neymar and, after having failed to bring him in during the summer, they did so in the winter. It was not cheap, though.
In order to sign Coutinho, Barcelona paid Liverpool 120 million euros plus 40 million euros in add-ons. At the time, this was largely viewed as being a fair price after the playmaker had become one of the Premier League’s shining stars whilst playing on Merseyside.
There was a lot of excitement at the Camp Nou, but that soon turned into frustration. Coutinho failed to adapt to Ernesto Valverde’s system, unable to perform to the best of his abilities as a left winger, and the player’s exasperation even boiled over after scoring a goal, as he put his fingers in his ears. That day was the beginning of the end for Coutinho.