Liverpool hero Mark Lawrenson has said that the Reds should have sold Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona during the summer.
The Spanish giants made the 25 year old Coutinho a priority target during the summer after they lost Neymar to PSG and they made three bids for him, all of which were rejected by Jurgen Klopp’s men who remained adamant that they would not sell.
Coutinho also wished to move and handed in a transfer request. Despite his wish not being granted, he does appear to once again be a committed member of the Reds first team.
Nonetheless, Lawrenson feels that Coutinho should have been sold this summer, saying, “I would have sold him in the summer. I just think if you are getting £120 million for a footballer – you take it because he could fall over tomorrow.
“There’s a couple been injured this week – Mustafi and Fellaini. This happens in football. I 100% would have sold him. I think FSG (club owners) thought that it was too late in terms of trying to get someone else in and of course prices have gone mad.
“Maybe if they had been offered that money in June, they could have said ‘give us two weeks, keep it quiet’ and we’ll sell him to you. They could then have got two or three players to replace him. I think he’ll go possibly in January.”
