Barcelona is working hard to reduce the payroll template and register Messi as well as Kun Aguero, Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia, and Emerson Royal, who were all employed but did not finish the previous season. The goal is to get rid of players that take a lot of money but don’t give much, but no instance is more tough than Philippe Coutinho’s.
The process of putting the 29-year-old Brazilian on the market is a near-impossible task that will put Mateu Alemany, the club’s director of football, to the ultimate test.
It is the most expensive signing in Barça’s history, both in terms of salary and cost, after the club agreed to a 120 million euro deal with Liverpool in the 2018 winter market, plus 40 million euros in variables. It’s a difficult challenge to solve his escape.
There is no team in the world that can afford to take on his card at a cost of near to $20 million per season, let alone the roughly $50 million that still to be amortized from his hire.
Source: AS.com