BARCELONA tend to go for players they believe they can get and Philippe Coutinho ticks all the boxes as they go into what will be an extremely busy summer for them.
They have bought from Liverpool before, signing Luis Suarez and Javier Mascherano.
The player wants to come, although he is happy and settled in Liverpool, and Neymar and Suarez will ease him in at his new club if he makes the move.
Neymar has even done his best to get the ball rolling by going public on his view that Barca should sign his Brazilian team-mate.
Barcelona have had to face the uncomfortable truth this season that Andres Iniesta needs replacing.
He has looked more fragile than ever and when Luis Enrique said last month: ‘He needs to participate in what it means to grow old at Barcelona,’ it seemed like a somewhat cryptic acceptance of that fact.
His new contract is unsigned and that seems to be as much down to him as to the club.
He does not want to take the money without being completely convinced he can give value for it on the pitch. He is not going anywhere but more than ever Barcelona need someone who can play when he is not available.
Coutinho is the closest thing to Iniesta on the market right now. His goal in the Merseyside derby – stepping inside on to his right foot and curling the ball past the goalkeeper into the top corner – was straight from the Iniesta textbook.
Barcelona sporting director Robert Fernandez identified the possibility at the start of the season and Neymar has played his part in the gradual courting process.
‘He would have a place in this Barcelona team,’ said Neymar after one international break.
That place would be right behind Neymar on the right-hand side of midfield – the position that for so many years has been Iniesta’s.
Suarez will also be key in persuading the player. Suarez counts Coutinho as one of his best friends in football from their time together at Anfield.
There was a Spanish and Portuguese speaking group of Liverpool players during his time at the club and the two became good friends.
The famous picture of Suarez emerging from a supermarket with a trolley laden with fizzy drinks and booze was ahead of a garden party to which Coutinho was invited, illustrates that close friendship.
The Brazilian had even gone to Costcutter to do the beer run with his mate.
In Suarez’s Crossing the Line autobiography he speaks about talking to the then 21-year-old Brazilian before big games and telling him to keep his head if he didn’t see the ball for spells of the game.
Coutinho needs less mentoring these days but Suarez would be there for him at the Nou Camp.
Coutinho is not the only option for Barcelona but with the likes of Mesut Ozil and Isco looking increasingly unlikely, he has emerged as the favourite.
‘I have always said that I would love to retire here. But I will never be here just for the sake of being here,’ Iniesta said recently.
Coutinho will never fill his shoes but Barcelona want him to try.
SOURCE: DAILYMAIL
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