Club Made Late Bid To Rival Barcelona For Philippe Coutinho

Yes ladies and gents it's another Philippe Coutinho article. He may have moved but the fun never stops! Apparently Barcelona weren't the only team who wanted to sign the Brazilian before he finally moved to the Camp Nou.

Philippe Coutinho was desperate to move to Barcelona. His move had nothing to do with money but the chance to play for the Catalan giants and to win trophies with them. Liverpool could have offered more, and they apparently did, but it didn't matter to him.

The 'injuries', the transfer request, the actual knuckling down and playing, the reported £11.5 million of his own money to get the move, it all helped him get the move he wanted six months earlier than expected.

No more use of sulking Coutinho pictures. Image: PA Images.

However things might have been different right at the end of the saga that had already been stretched out to six months of our valuable time. According to a Spanish report someone else wanted him.

Mundo Deportivo believe that Real Madrid made a very last gasp bid for the third most expensive player on the planet, to steal him from their rivals, but were rebuffed by the player.

It's finally done! Image: PA Images.

According to the paper Los Blancos were willing to blow their La Liga rivals out of the water by offering €200 million for the players, that would have made him the second most expensive player on the planet.

There are suggestions that, despite the apparent huge bid, it was merely a ploy from the Champions League champions to mess with the player and turn his head or to raise the price for their rivals.

A cynic might suggest that Mundo being a paper with a Barca bias means it's possible the news comes from a source from the buying club to make their signing of Coutinho seem triumphant, a cynic might suggest it but not me obviously...

Barca aren't exactly in desperate need of their new acquisition right now as they lead the Spanish league table by nine points from Atletico Madrid with Real 15 points behind them, at time of writing.

It's not exactly obvious where former Espanyol loanee Coutinho would fit in at Real, so it's a good job for him he didn't go.

Topics: Liverpool, Barcelona, Philippe Coutinho, Clasico, Real Madrid, La Liga

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a writer for SPORTbible. He covers all sport from football, formula one, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics, mma and wrestling. He obviously hates YOUR football team and has no interest in synchronised swimming.

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