January 6-8 may be the day that Liverpool fans need to remember.
If you ask Liverpool fans: What happened to Liverpool six years ago? KOP will smile: Coutinho, thank you.
No, ESPN, TNT Sports, B/R Sports, "Daily Mirror" and other media collectively recalled the past on January 7 - on this day in 2018, Liverpool officially announced Coutinho's departure, and then, Barcelona officially announced Coutinho's joining.
Coutinho left Liverpool and the gears of fate began to turn: Liverpool went to the top, Barcelona fell into the slump. Let's reminisce about the past:
In the summer of 2017, Paris Saint-Germain spent 222 million euros in liquidated damages to poach Neymar directly from Barcelona. Barcelona, which has a huge amount of money, is looking for excellent attackers all over the world. Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho was targeted by Barcelona and Cunori began to get restless.
Entering 2018, the winter window opened, and Coutinho began to behave - the threat of a strike, a bizarre injury, and almost engraved the words "I'm going to Barcelona" on his face. The twisted melon is not sweet, and Liverpool can only let go of the library bird. Barcelona is also in a trench, with a fixed €120 million plus 40 million floating bonuses to take Coutinho away. With some floating clauses agreed, Barcelona ended up paying Liverpool €145 million.
Coincidentally, Liverpool used the 145 million euros in exchange for the team's cornerstone figures: Van Dijk for 84 million euros and Alisson for 62.5 million euros. Coutinho = Van Dijk + Alisson, looking back, this is the "transfer equation" that changed the fate of Liverpool.
Coutinho's fate goes without saying, he has never been able to adapt after joining Barcelona, came to Bayern on loan, and won the Champions League, and was finally disposed of by Barcelona at a low price of 20 million euros. Now, Coutinho is playing in Qatar and is valued at just €9 million ($150 million at his peak).
Van Dijk, who joined in January 2018, and Alisson, who joined in the summer of 2018, have made up for Liverpool's shortcomings, and a truly strong team was born. In the past 6 years, Liverpool has won 1 Champions League, 1 Club World Cup, 1 Premier League, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 1 Community Shield, a total of 7 titles, and achieved a grand slam.
From the perspective of the club's brand value, team value and other aspects, Liverpool is not the same as itself six years ago - at the end of 2017, the total value of Liverpool's team was less than 500 million euros (German transfer valuation), and now, Liverpool's total value is as high as 890 million euros, and the value has skyrocketed by 400 million.
Liverpool has changed dramatically in 6 years, and it is really thanks to Barcelona - Barcelona sent money to force Liverpool to completely reform and enter a virtuous circle. Of course, the management of the club and the recruitment team are equally important. Paris sent 222 million to Barcelona, but Barcelona wasted the money......