Spanish club, Barcelona have unveiled their latest signing, Philippe
Coutinho, after completing a record deal of £145m, making the Brazilian
the second-most expensive player in the world after Neymar left for PSG
at £198m
The 25-year-old playmaker who was unveiled by the club president
Josep Maria Bartomeu at the Nou Camp this afternoon, was signed from
English club Liverpool in a five-year deal.
at the official unveiling of Coutinho, Bartomeu said: ‘All Barcelona
fans around the world are pleased to meet the new Barcelona player
Philippe Coutinho.
‘We wanted him last summer, we have been working for weeks and months
on this deal but one of the most important aspects was that he wanted
to come he.
‘He was patient and that was a determining factor in bringing him
here. I am delighted to announce the signing of one of the stars of
world football.
‘Everyone
knows him as a player, we know about his professional career but what I
can say is that it wasn’t easy to bring him here. But he wanted to be
here and he is part of this new project with Ernesto Valverde and he’ll
be getting to know us as a club and a team. Coutinho has a lot of family
here with him today, which everybody wanted.
‘Thank you for accepting the deal. We have spoken a lot over the last
few days. You are a player we have wanted to come here for a long time
and we thank you for your determination and your motivation to come
here. We would also like to thank Liverpool to allow him to come here.’
The attacking midfielder who was nicknamed ‘Little Magician’ by fans
and teammates of his former club Liverpool, is known for his combination
of vision, passing, dribbling and long-range strikes.
Despite the unveiling, the Brazilian star will be out for three weeks after his medical reveals thigh injury.
He could miss the upcoming Copa del Rey fixture with Celta Vigo and
league matches against Real Sociedad, Real Betis and Alaves. It means
Coutinho could make his debut on February 4, in the Catalan derby
against Espanyol, the club he played at on loan from Espanyol in 2012.
See more photos below..
