Philippe Coutinho
has returned to his old ways.
The Brazilian star, the most expensive signing in the history of Barça, for whom the Catalans paid a fixed 120 million euros and agreed to up to 40 more in variables, signed a tremendously promising start to the season.
After scoring two goals for his former team with Bayern in the Lisbon debacle, he seemed to be looking to ingratiate himself again with the Barcelona fans on the fast track.
But again, the balloon has deflated very quickly.
Until his injury in the classic against Real Madrid, Coutinho had six games, five of them as a starter, and two goals.
Since then, he has played five more games, three as a starter, and has added only one goal.
Against Juventus, when the Catalans most needed to counter a game that condemned them to be second in the group, Ronald Koeman decided not to give them a single minute.
And, against Levante,
Pedri
, with whom he coincided for a few minutes on the pitch, contributed much more than he did to the game of a Barcelona team that could only win by the minimum and that tonight they face Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou .
All this, of course, has also been reflected in its valuation at an economic level.
In October 2018, after his first months as a Barcelona player, according to the specialized portal Transfermarkt, he reached 150 million euros.
From there, he declined to 56 last April, when he was still on loan at Bayern.
The amount soared to 60 in early October, but its latest data suggests a new crash.
While Coutinho falls whole, there is a growing expectation for
Riqui Puig
.
The canterano transmitted good feelings in the minutes he had against Juventus, but was left without playing on Sunday.
Something that, according to
Koeman
slipped
, could be due to his attitude.
“I don't know, there is a certain interest from the press because he is a home player, but there are also other players who do not play and seek the support of the coach and the press.
We are a strong squad, only 11 can play and the coach decides on the attitude of a player, "said the coach, who still turns to criticism for strengthening the defense in the last minutes against Levante.
"I can understand the critics if you lose four or five games, but the other day I was criticized for putting a central in the last minutes and I do not understand that, because we wanted to win," he settled.
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Coutinho
Ronald Koeman
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Pedri
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