Welcome! It’s time to once again play world football’s favorite 2017 summer transfer window guessing game: Philippe Coutinho, staying or going? In today’s edition, the ownership group of Liverpool Football Club released a statement, espousing the same position that they have maintained all along- Coutinho is not going to Barcelona, and that he’s simply not for sale at this time.
It wasn’t long until reports emerged that Philippe Coutinho had himself emailed in a transfer request.
First, a statement released on the Liverpool website, Fenway Sports Group proclaims: “We wish to offer clarity as regards our position on a possible transfer of Philippe Coutinho.
“The club’s definitive stance is that no offers for Philippe will be considered and he will remain a member of Liverpool Football Club when the summer window closes.”
This despite the extremely expensive offers reportedly made by Barcelona. Also on Friday, reports emerged that Coutinho himself had emailed in his transfer request.
WATCH: @Phil_Coutinho hands @LFC an official transfer request – Sky sources. More here: https://t.co/1i6TQVOfpV https://t.co/YcGdbdY0b4
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 11, 2017
Philippe Coutinho has asked via email to leave Liverpool. #LFC stance remains the same – resolute he's not for sale.
— Ian Dennis (@Iandennisbbc) August 11, 2017
This situation is getting very long and protracted, like the Raheem Sterling transfer a couple summers ago. This transfer saga probably won’t be resolving itself soon either; at least not without a couple more major twists and turns. Watch this space!
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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