Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp has revealed the main reason why the club sanctioned the transfer of Philippe Coutinho to Spanish giant, Barcelona. Klopp said although Liverpool fought hard to keep Philippe Coutinho at the club, they eventually had to admit defeat and sell the playmaker to Barcelona because there was no option left on the table.
According to Sky Sports, the Reds had turned down series of bids from Barcelona last summer for the Brazilian but the Spanish club returned once the January window opened and got their man with a fee believed to be £146m. Klopp disclosed that Liverpool tried to persuade Coutinho to stay but came to realise that the 25-year-old had his heart set on a switch to the Nou Camp.
According to him;
"There was no other option. If there is somebody maybe who should be angry, massively disappointed, in this case, then it could be the manager of the club the player is leaving. But I am not [angry], because I know we tried absolutely everything to convince Phil to stay here and carry on going together with us. It was his dream [to move to Barca] and it is the truth when I say he left Liverpool for only one club and we really had to accept that. The club was fighting until the last second and tried everything.
It would have been very difficult if we had said, which we could have done, 'look, here is your contract and you have to stay here', and to use him in the second half of the season."
