Barcelona's financial woes are set to worsen further in the coming weeks, with Liverpool due to earn an additional £17 million add-on fee following their sale of Phillipe Coutinho to the Catalan giants in January 2018.
The Brazil international is closing in on 100 appearances for Barca, and the Daily Star reports that the Spanish side are bound to an agreement within the transfer that will see them fork out an additional £17 million or 20 million euros to the Merseyside club.
It is the latest development in what is becoming an increasingly bleak financial situation for the La Liga powerhouse, whose debt was estimated to be in the region of 1.35 billion Euros.
Coutinho currently has 90 appearances to his name and could reach a century of outings in a Barcelona shirt when Ronald Koeman's men face Rayo Vallecano on 27th October.
It would be fair to say that the jury is still out on the 29-year-old's spell at the Camp Nou, which has seen him score 23 goals in those 90 appearances to date.
Barcelona's top three most expensive signings :moneybag:
:flag_br: Philippe Coutinho - €160m
:flag_fr: Ousmane Dembele - €147m
:flag_fr: Antoine Griezmann - €120m pic.twitter.com/Tqz8y3Y607
- Goal (@goal) September 1, 2021
After a respectable second half of the 2017/18 season which yielded nine goals in 22 appearances, the former Reds midfielder struggled in his first full campaign - mustering only 11 goals in 53 games, but still managing to secure a second La Liga title winners' medal in the process.
He headed to Germany for a successful loan stint with Bayern Munich in 2019/20, winning a treble that included the Champions League, before heading back to Spain and suffering a serious knee injury ahead of his most recent return to the matchday squad last month.
Koeman will be hoping he hits the ground running quickly after seeing his attacking options diminish following the departures of Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann.
Summer signing Memphis Depay has eased those fears after netting two goals in his first three league appearances, while plenty is expected of highly-rated teenager Ansu Fati, who has taken Messi's iconic number 10 squad number.
Words by James Hilsum.
Featured Image Credit: PA
Topics: Liverpool, Barcelona, Transfers, Philippe Coutinho
