Juventus: Why Bianconeri should stay away from Philippe Coutinho

Donning the Liverpool kit, he would run riot in and around the opposition defence in the Premier League, taking on defenders, darting past them with his nonchalant dribbling skillset, and eventually firing the ball into the net with his more natural right-footed curler. Commentators would stare in awe and respond, “what a strike! A Philippe Coutinho trademark.”

But, like the fortune of the Brazilian, everything in regard to that superstar has changed, perhaps not in the way he would’ve anticipated. Nowadays, Philippe Coutinho is living in the shadow of his former self, with the name of Juventus emerging as the potential saviour of his lukewarm footballing career.

What is the story?

As reported by ESPN (via Tuttojuve.com), Juventus have begun to show interest in Philippe Coutinho from FC Barcelona this summer. The story believes that Juventus want to sign an attacking midfielder from this ongoing summer transfer window and it could well be the former Liverpool man.

Signed for an initial transfer fee of £105 million from Liverpool in January 2018, Coutinho signed terms that would keep the Brazilian at Barca until June 2023.

However, by the look of the things, he may not have to wait until then as he is reported to have eyed a summer departure from Catalonia this summer, with Juventus understandably keeping tabs on the situation.

Is there any other club from Serie A interested in Philippe Coutinho?

ESPN has reportedly claimed the same for another club from Serie A — AC Milan.

Having lost Hakan Çalhanoğlu for free to their city rivals Inter at the very beginning of this summer transfer window, Milan are looking to bring in an astute replacement to play in that coveted playmaking role. If utilised well, Coutinho could be the appropriate sort of signing for the Rossoneri.

Why leaving Barcelona now?

You don’t need a highly effective eidetic memory to remember the muddle Barcelona became under the presidency of Josep Maria Bartomeu. The so-called “villain” is now gone. However, the dirt that his works have left remain and it’s up to new president Joan Laporta to bring the Catalan side out of the mess. But, the search for the remedy may result in some serious sacrifices.

That being said, Barcelona will have to reduce a large chunk of their annual wage bill (expected to be around €200 million) before the start of the 2021/22 La Liga campaign. In case they fail to do so, Barcelona would not be able to register their new summer signings such as Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia, Memphis Depay, Emerson and even Lionel Messi, who is close to re-signing a five-year contract with Barca after becoming a free agent last June.

Therefore, one could expect to see a mass exodus at Barcelona this summer, with Philippe Coutinho being one of the top names to get involved in a hectic transfer period. The general thinking is that Coutinho would switch parties, irrespective of Barca’s ongoing financial conundrums, as he is bewildered with the individual form since moving to Barca.

Over the course of the 90 games that he has played so far for the Blaugrana, Coutinho has been able to log 23 goals and 14 assists (as per Transfermarkt), which isn’t too bad, but his overall performances have been poor, hinting that Ronald Koeman now sees him as surplus to his requirements. Consequently, a move away from Camp Nou for the 29-year-old is well on the cards.

Why Juventus should not sign Philippe Coutinho

He is not 30 yet, he will come cheap under the current circumstances, and most importantly, he has the experience of playing in Serie A (for Inter) in the past; he should be a good buy for Juventus, eh? Mayhap not.

Having got rid of Andrea Pirlo and his managerial duties, Juventus reacted quickly this term, recouping the services of their former manager in Massimiliano Allegri. There was no hesitation among the fans whatsoever that Allegri would be the right person to take the vacant post. But, when it comes to Coutinho and his links with the Piedmontese club, a sort of dubiousness keeps hovering in the minds of the Juventini.

We are going off track, let us bring up the question again — why shouldn’t Juventus sign Philippe Coutinho? When this kind of discussion takes place, taking a clear look at the player’s past injury record becomes a necessity. Coutinho’s injury record will help understand why he may not be a perfect acquisition for Juventus.

While signing for Barcelona in 2018, Coutinho was detected with a thigh injury during his medical. Barca took the risk and ended up paying an exorbitant fee to Liverpool in return for Countinho’s signature. Since then, Coutinho’s development has been marred by numerous different injuries, including one ankle problem in the 2019/20 season that kept him on the sideline for 62 days (as per Transfermarkt) and a rupture of the outer meniscus that made him stay without any action for an enormous tally of 194 days last season. As a result, he played just 792 minutes of football, racking up three goals and two assists from only 14 appearances across all competitions.

There is no doubt that Countinho is an extremely talented outlet. It might be true that he is also growing restless to get his career back on track, and Juventus may provide him with some room to heal his career. But the lack of availability on the field has made the interesting clubs unaware of his current body shape or physical attributes.

Signing Coutinho, let it be cheap, could be as if throwing a dart blindfolded. The thrower won’t be able to set his target and hence, would be unsure of whether it would hit the heart of the dartboard or miss the target completely. Juventus might take the risk, as Barcelona did. But then, they should also be ready for its severe consequences.

Besides, as the maxim goes, it is better to do nothing than to do what is wrong. Legends have said that temptation is the root of all evil. At the end of the day, Juventus should not get tempted by the economical value of the deal.