Barça face €115 million premium for Liverpool players due to Coutinho clause
According to the Daily Mail, Barcelona will have to pay a premium of €115 million due to a clause put into Coutinho's contract to avoid another Suárez situation.
During the summer of 2017 when Neymar left Barcelona for Paris Saint Germain, Barcelona were frantic in their search for his replacement. Both Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund saw them coming, however, and would not let Philippe Coutinho or Ousmane Dembélé go for anything less than their absolute worth.
They signed Dembélé from the Bundesliga side, but Liverpool, and Jurgen Klopp, proved harder to bargain with and would not cede ground in negotiations until the winter when the Brazilian had all but given up playing for them due to a mysterious back injury.
Barcelona got their way in the end but Liverpool inserted a clause into the deal that stated the Spanish club would have to pay a €115 million premium on any future transactions between the clubs according to The Daily Mail.
Liverpool try to avoid losing stars to Barcelona
The clause has an expiration date, however, and returns to normal after this summer. That means any potential move for the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino, Alisson Becker or Virgil Van Dijk will be almost impossible for Barcelona.
Three times in the past, Barcelona have come knocking for Liverpool players. The first was Javier Macherano in the summer of 2010 and then Luis Suárez in 2014. Both went on to have stellar spells at Camp Nou and while Coutinho hasn't been as effective as they might have liked given the price they paid for him, Liverpool wanted to ensure their stars wouldn't be lured away from Anfield in the coming transfer windows.