MLS closing in on first €100m star: LA Galaxy open Philippe Coutinho talks

There are 23 players who have made moves for €100 million or more – now the first of these could be heading to MLS.

Philippe Coutinho made the third biggest transfer in football history when he left Liverpool to join Barcelona in a seismic deal in January 2018.

The Brazil international is now in the twilight years of his career and appears primed to move to LA Galaxy after leaving Vasco da Gama to become a free agent.

Coutinho might not be the biggest star to play in MLS – the likes of David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and, of course, Lionel Messi eclipse him – but he will be the most expensive.

Coutinho in a difficult place

AS reports that the LA Galaxy have opened talks with the former Liverpool favourite, who is being earmarked as a potential replacement for the long-term injured Riqui Puig.

The opportunity to move out of the goldfish bowl of Brazilian football to MLS is something that Coutinho is likely to be open to, having left Vasco to prioritise his mental health.

“The Vasco fans expected a lot from him, but there was a lot of disappointment, especially because of his physical condition,” Ge Globo reported.

“The decision at this moment says more about Coutinho than about his situation at Vasco. The player wanted to terminate his contract to focus on his mental health, not to think about taking the next step in his career.”

One of the world’s best

At his peak, Coutinho was regarded as one of the most gifted players in the world. His Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) peaked at €96m in January 2018, meaning that while Barcelona clearly overpaid for him, he was still a world-leading talent.

With Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp turned him into a star. Coutinho was given creative freedom to express his deft passing and eye for a threaded ball, display his close control in tight areas and shoot from long distance.

The Reds’ desire to attack in a fast and fluid manner generated a controlled chaos that suited his freewheeling style.

Klopp famously told him Coutinho that life would not be as good at Barcelona:

“I told him stay here and they will end up building a statue in your honour. Go somewhere else, to Barcelona, to Bayern Munich, to Real Madrid, and you will be just another player. Here you can be something more.”

The Brazilian, though, didn’t listen to the manager and has not been the same player since.

Coutinho’s slide

It’s been many years since fans have been treated to peak Coutinho, which was something that was really only consistently on display in Europe during his spells with Inter Milan and Liverpool.

He struggled to live up to the hype at Barca, showed flashes of his best during loans at Bayern Munich and Aston Villa but then disappeared when he moved to the Birmingham club on a permanent basis.

Coutinho, who has led a rather nomadic loan career for the last five years, then had temporary stints with Al Duhail in Qatar and Vasco, who made his move permanent in July.

Reus trick all over again?

LA Galaxy has much to do if it is to sign Coutinho. The Californians already have three designated players (DPs), meaning that if he is to sign for them in a regular manner, he would have to agree to an annual contract under $743,000. He was reportedly being paid around six times this figure at Vasco.

The current DPs at the Galaxy are Gabriel Pec, who also joined the club from Vasco, winger Joseph Paintsil and new signing Joao Klauss.

Surprisingly, Marco Reus is not a DP. He earns more than the normal cap, but LA Galaxy could use allocation money – funds provided by MLS to help clubs manage the salary cap – to ‘buy down’ how much of his wage counts against the cap. That way, on paper, his cost to the cap is low enough that he doesn’t have to be registered as a DP, even though his salary is higher. This lets Galaxy keep all three DP spots for other players while still signing Reus.

Theoretically, LA Galaxy could apply this same mechanism for Coutinho too, but in practice they’re limited by how much allocation money they have.

Related stories:

Liverpool to finally agree a transfer two years in the making

Liverpool Transfer News Today: €100m bid prepared amid Mateus Mane battle

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