Jurgen Klopp has opened up on the summer transfer that saw former Liverpool player Philippe Coutinho move to Bayern Munich on loan.
The 27-year-old had been touted round a number of English clubs over the summer, including Liverpool, but no one moved before the transfer window shut.
The European window is open until September 2 and Coutinho made his move to Germany this week.
Talking to German media, as quoted by Mirror journalist David Maddock, Klopp congratulated Coutinho on his move but took a dig at Barcelona when he said, “As weird as it sounds, we could not afford it.”
Maddock said, “Given the loan cost for Liverpool was £40m total (fee + wage), maybe not so weird”.
According to the BBC, Bayern had to pay a loan fee of £7.78m and wages that Marca claim are £12.4m, making the total deal half of what Liverpool had been offered.
Jurgen Klopp in interview with German media, congratulates Coutinho on his 9 month loan to Bayern, and says it makes sense in a football context. But adds: "As weird as it sounds, we could not afford it" Given the loan cost for #LFC was £40m total (fee + wage), maybe not so weird
— David Maddock (@MaddockMirror) August 19, 2019
One Liverpool fan asked why the loan fee was so different for Liverpool and Bayern, and Maddock said, “because Barca thought they’d be able to screw an English club for more cash, but when PL window closed, didn’t want to be lumbered with a dud, so cut fee for rest of Europe.”
He added that Arsenal, Tottenham and Man United also turned Coutinho down at that price and that he thought Klopp’s comments were a dig at Barcelona.
because Barca thought they'd be able to screw an English club for more cash, but when PL window closed, didn't want to be lumbered with a dud, so cut fee for rest of Europe. Possibly.
— David Maddock (@MaddockMirror) August 19, 2019
Arsenal, Spurs and Man U all turned it down at £40m too, it seems…given it's bonkers money for 9 months of football, not really a surprise…
— David Maddock (@MaddockMirror) August 19, 2019
OPINION
This lays bare the real problem with the two-tier transfer window, with the English window shutting at the start of August and the European window staying open for almost another month. It gives teams like Barcelona the opportunity to try to get ridiculous money from a Premier League side before completing a transfer for a more reasonable price elsewhere in Europe. Paying £40m for Coutinho for a season is ridiculous money and it’s not surprising that all the Premier League sides turned the move down. Coutinho is a massive talent – Liverpool fans know this more than anyone – but doing a deal like this would have just been bad business. A fair few Liverpool fans have acknowledged this with one saying, “Even if they could afford it, it makes 0 sense to pay his full wages and a massive loan fee for a player who would be there for just nine months. Bad business overall.”
1. It's not that easy. Liverpool spent a lot of money on new contract deals for the main players.
2. Even if they could afford it, it makes 0 sense to pay his full wages + a massive loan fee for a player who would be there for just 9 months. Bad business overall.— López D. Manuel (@NoLookTapIns) August 20, 2019