The stats behind Coutinho's looming move from Liverpool to Barcelona

With the January transfer window wide open, Liverpool acted accordingly to push the Virgil van Dijk deal over the line before the end of 2017. Having been heavily linked with a move for the Dutchman last summer, the Reds finally landed their man, forking out a world record £75m for a defender to secure the centre-back’s services. 

However, Liverpool’s dealings in the transfer market are unlikely to be completed with the arrival of Van Dijk. Philippe Coutinho was linked with a big money move to Barcelona earlier in the season and while the Merseyside outfit remained firm in their bid to retain the Brazilian’s services, a deal looks close to completion that will see the former Inter man make the move from England to Spain. 

Liverpool are understandably keen to retain the 25-year-old’s services given his excellent form in Jurgen Klopp’s ideal XI this term and set his asking price at a minimum of £130m. With a WhoScored rating of 8.03, Coutinho is the best rated-player in the Premier League at the time of writing and with seven goals and six assists to his name, he’s been influential in Liverpool’s pursuit of a top-4 finish. 

Nevertheless, when Barcelona identify a target, they usually land their man one way or another and Coutinho is no exception to the rule, even if it took longer than expected to wrap up this transfer. The question now is how does Coutinho fit into this XI and whether he is good enough to make the grade at Camp Nou. Ernesto Valverde has recently moved to a 4-4-2 formation, in part due to Ousmane Dembele’s injury and Paulinho’s good form in midfield. 

There’s undoubtedly a spot for Coutinho in this Barcelona setup, but his impending arrival hands Valverde a selection headache, while Dembele’s return to fitness presents the Barcelona boss with a further issue. Coutinho thrived when he was dropped back into a deeper role in Klopp’s preferred 4-3-3 formation, but he is certainly able to play wide in the same system. 

When compared to Valverde’s current attacking options for Barcelona, it’s worth noting that Coutinho’s six assists is level with Lionel Messi, while a return of 2.9 key passes per game is better than any player for the Blaugrana. Crucially, the Brazil international’s looming move to the La Liga leaders eases the creative pressure on Messi, who is top for key passes per game (2.6) of all Barcelona players this season. 

Messi is the club’s top scorer, with 17 league goals, and a player of Coutinho’s ilk will allow the Argentine to operate closer to goal and maximise his immense goalscorer ability. His driving runs from deep or out wide would benefit a Barcelona side that aims to dominate opponents. Indeed, 2.8 successful dribbles per league game would place second to Messi (5.6) for the Spanish giants and reinforces a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of ‘dribbling’. 

The only downside would be that Coutinho is ineligible for the Champions League considering his participation in the competition with Liverpool, though that is a minor hiccup that Barcelona can navigate. While some may suggest there are better midfield options for this current Barcelona side, Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen one of those mentioned, Coutinho is another marquee signing to whet the appetite of supporters. 

He’ll undoubtedly slot in seamlessly at Camp Nou and in the wake of Neymar’s record breaking move to PSG, Barcelona are replacing one samba star with another, even if Coutinho’s arrival was delayed by the best part of six months. Liverpool are loath to losing one of their star men, but they now have ample time to land his replacement, with Thomas Lemar a reported target for the Reds. Either way, the stats show that Coutinho will prove a hit at Barcelona and boost one of football’s already best attacks.