18 League titles, Seven FA Cups, Five UEFA Champions League Titles to mention but a few makes Liverpool one of the most successful European clubs although they haven't been so successful in half a century. With the announcement that the Reds have traded star man Philip Coutinho for a club record €160m to Barcelona; while this might appear a perfect deal from a business perspective as the Brazilian becomes the second most expensive player in football history, yet this is a step backwards from a sporting perspective and this is why .
Luis Suarez, Javier Mascharano, Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso have been the best players for Liverpool in the past seven years yet all of these players were sold in their peak due to the Reds inability to keep their stars with two of these players moving to Barcelona. To make matters worse the Reds would have also traded Steven Gerard in 2005 if he decided to move to Chelsea as the focus then was selling the best players rather than losing them for free.
You can argue that Liverpool might have acquired the likes of Naby Keita (Leipzig) and Virgil Van Dijk through the same way but none of these players can be compared to Coutinho. €160m might look fantastic and so was £50m and £70m made from the sales of Suarez and Torres who Liverpool could not replace for years despite spending a fortune before the signing of Moh Salah this season.
With Adam Lallana back from injury and the attacking vibe of Mohammed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, Coutinho might not be immediately missed by the Reds but finding a permanent replacement for him might take longer than expected as the likes of Oxlade Chamberlain and Marko Grujic will find his shoe too to wear.
Where else can one find an immediate replacement for a player who has scored seven goals, assisted six, created seven big chances, hitting 17 shots on target in 14 league games this season as well as 13 goals, assisted seven, created 17 big chances and hit 38 shots on target in 31 league games last season.
What message is Liverpool sending to the agents of in form players like Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane who if they continue to perform at this rate might be attracted to moving elsewhere as the Reds continue to sell. A close look at PSG showed how to deal with the advances of Barcelona as the French giants kept Marco Verratti at the club as well as signing Barcelona's Neymar. Liverpool will have to splash the cash to keep their stars like Chelsea and Manchester City have done or continue to sell their stars in their prime . Football is a capitalist business hence the highest bidder takes it all, footballers and their signings should grow with the revenue generated by the ever growing sport in the world as they live from the income made from playing the game .
Liverpool must step up and splash the cash or keep losing their stars with Mohammed Salah next on line .
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