“Coutinho hits rock bottom,” the newspaper headlined yesterday, Wednesday Sport, from Barcelona. And he said: “The Brazilian played the first game and scored one goal in the whole year 2023; since the arrival of Emery (DT) he only connects injuries and substitutions”. Let’s remind: FC Barcelona got him out of Liverpool by paying 160 million euros for him and on January 6, 2018, presented him as a galactic reinforcement. He gave him a five and a half year contract, a pharaonic contract of 23 million euros per season. Coutinho was instrumental in the transfer: he refused to continue training to force his departure. And Liverpool had no choice but to negotiate it. Such crazy expenses are justified by the fact that he was a “top star of the Premier League”, which we have never seen, he was always a correct footballer, with good technique and a little spirit. He was already at Inter Milan, his first club in Europe, and after two seasons, the club Nerazzurri got rid of him by loaning him to Espanyol from Barcelona. He hardly plays for Aston Villa despite the fact that he is only 30 years old, which is the perfect age for a professional, especially for an attacking midfielder tasked with creating play, with less wear and tear than the famous midfielder. Its current price is 14 million euros.

Cup before and now

Between the net transfer value (160), his contract (126.5) and the commission of the agents involved (around 40), Barça committed to Philippe Coutinho for €326.5 million. We already know about his poor performance. Barça managed to reduce the stratospheric sum by spending a year on loan to Bayern Munich, who paid 8.5 million euros for the season and contract year. And in the end it was definitely canceled when Aston Villa appeared and paid 20 million for him. It was the end of an economic tragedy. In other words, 51.5 million euros were saved.

League of Farmers

Jaume Llopis, who was the director of the Barça club with the same directive until August 2021, declared without anesthesia: “Barça will be a joint-stock company in 2026 and will be controlled by financial institutions.” And he explained: “The club’s debt will be around 4,000 million, and given the impossibility of dealing with it, the lenders will capitalize the debt.” Llopis is a professor emeritus at various universities, a doctor of economic sciences and a member of the board of directors of several European and Latin American companies. The Catalan club was a victim of its own managers with “rare passes”, failed or inflated, which is the karma of football clubs, because the subsequent failures are very easy to explain. Any excuse is valid: “He didn’t adapt”, “his injuries hurt”, “the coach put him in a position that was not his”, “the coach doesn’t want him” (argument from James Rodríguez escort against Zidane to cover up his failure at Real Madrid ), “his wife was missing and was not in town”, “he had family problems”. There is always something handy at hand.

Haaland, Mbappé, Vinicius…?

City Group is highly respected in the environment for its team of scouts and recruiters. His flagship Manchester City hired Erling Haaland for a modest 60 million, he played 47 games with 51 goals and 8 assists. Chelsea, wanting to catch up with Barcelona at the level of stupidity, signed the Ukrainian Mijail Mudryk for 70 million euros (plus 30 euros in goals). He has not yet managed to impose himself as a starter, he has 15 matches with zero goals and 2 assists. Such a difference is somewhat a reflection of the seasons of both clubs: City are fighting for a treble, while Chelsea are celebrating their worst campaign in more than twenty years.

Jamie Carragher, a former Liverpool footballer who became a commentator (in England there are few journalists left on football broadcasts, most of them are former), is not politically correct in his opinions, he tells the truth: he was snitched by Cristiano Ronaldo in the middle of the field to comment on how the Portuguese actually played . Three days ago he tweeted: “Spending 90 million on Antony and 70 million on Casemiro (31 years old) in a five-year contract…”. Obviously, criticism of Manchester United. Strictly speaking, Real Madrid, who bought Casemiro’s pass for 5 million from São Paulo, sold it to the English club for 72 million euros plus 13 million in variables. In other words, he could charge a total of 85 for a very combat element that acts as a brand controller, that’s crazy. He is not a scorer or a ten. It’s probably the best sale in history. And the worst purchase.

On the other hand, Antony, for whom United paid 100 million, is simply a weightless fantasy, for the fans it is not unquestionable. Paul Parker, a former player of the club, pointed out that in order to improve the performance, the club must get rid of at least eight players, including “Antony and Sancho”. Sancho cost 85 million in July 2021, he never gave up.

Bayern Munich have shown interest in Victor Osimhen, the Nigerian striker who excelled at champions Napoli. He scored 28 goals in 35 games. But Napoli valued him at 150 million euros, and Oliver Kahn, CEO of FC Bayern München AG, the Bavarian club’s holding company, raised a valid question: “When it comes to such a fee, we have to ask the question: the player gives you a guarantee for this money …? It’s definitely a big risk.” There is no risk insurance for football transfers.The player’s representative swears that his student is a genius and a great athlete, but once he signs, he is charged and gone.

“Osimhen is great, but he is not worth 150, just as Enzo Fernández was not worth 130, or 100 Mudryk, they put a heavy backpack on a footballer, who then plays with a price on his back and the pressure to prove that he is worth it,” says Walter Jáuregui, an active Peruvian tweeter. “Coutinho was killed by the millions that Barcelona paid for his passage,” added Colombian Gerardo Pérez. No, they don’t kill them, they make them ultra-millionaires. Just like Coutinho did at Liverpool, Enzo Fernández stopped going to train at Benfica as long as they transferred him. They totally agree. Then they sacrifice themselves, that’s a footballer’s specialty. Besides, the higher the rating, the higher your salary. Enzo went to Chelsea for a disproportionate €121 million. He’s good a central midfielder, with intelligent distribution and a great shot, but only a good part of the team, he cannot change the dynamics of the team by himself.

Since time immemorial, unjustified transfers and millionaires have been the downfall of clubs, because they later threaten sporting goals or the normal management of institutions (this happens in Barcelona, ​​Chelsea, Independiente, in so many clubs that are emptied and suffer one failure after another). You can invest a hundred million or something more for Haaland, Mbappé, even Vinícius, they have youth and proven level. If it fails, betting on the best in the market has failed. The above examples fall into our “rare passages” category.

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