There you have it...

So please stop pointing fingers at PSG spending money

It’s too much money, now I can see Verrati moving to Real Madrid for 200+. I guess PSG president was right about Neymar being cheap in few years time.

We would stop pointing at PSG, but their spending is insane! Let's see if this transfer pays off for Barca. I'm not very convinced yet.
He also can't play in CL right?

Well on one hand it's a lot of money, but on the other hand Coutinho will be a good reinforcement for an aging Barça midfield, IMO a good transfer albeit expensive.

Right, he can't play CL. Which is why I was expecting it to happen during the summer. After all, La Liga should be in the bag besides a major breakdown. On the up side, he'll give Iniesta resting time so he can be fit for Champions League games and he'll be used to the team chemistry by the end of the season.

To be fair, Neymar fees from PSG are pretty much equal to the fees that Barcelona paid for both Dembele+Coutinho so their bank balance from that is almost +- 0, Man City spent more overall.

He won't able to play in CL but I can see why Barcelona didn't want to wait till summer.

First of all, Dembele was bought in panic. They have barely used him and yet they've been very successful. I fear he might get stuck on the bench if he doesn't perform really well.. because there is no reason for the coach to change something that is working good. In that case he is a good backup. But a very expensive backup. As for Coutinho, I think he will be seen as the one taking over Iniestas role. These two players alone cost them +250million euros. Yes the money from Neymar helped but that was 220million euros. It didn't make up for all their expenses and it certainly is not an excuse for them to also spend insane amounts of money. I'm not going to say it is wrong or right... but I am saying it is extremely lame to keep pointing at PSG all the time. Especially when it comes from Barca fans who in my opinion has been very annoying and salty about this since Neymar was sold. It's about time they realize their club is also a big money spender and add to the inflation.

The hierarchy goes as following;
Barcelona
Liverpool
Southampton

xD

Pelle

To be honest no one here is having digs at PSG. Golazo did mention Neymars transfer but only in the context of the topic. As for Dembele, I don’t believe he is even 1/2 of Neymar, but he is probably the one player who played similarly to Neymar at a top tier, so it is quite ideal.

@amir_keal: as PSG fan I can assure you I've been having debates with barca fans. In real life and facebook and other forums. You know I'm not in FT 24/7 lol. Especially a few of them on the internet have gone keyboard warrior mode... So my words are aimed at those ones (they might be quite few here).

Well nobody will bash Barcelona now, not even close to the reaction people here had when PSG signed Neymar ofc...haha biased forum is biased.

Good player and good transfer. Will surely upgrade their current midfield.

IMO Barcelona have managed the Neymar funds really poorly. Should not have spent more than 100 M combined on Dembele and Coutinho.

In my opinion Courinho is a good reinforcement, but very expensive. They should have waited until next summer as they won't be able to use him everywhere anyway. They should not have spent that money on Dembele and instead tried to buy a forward/offensive midfielder now in january... The likes of Di Maria/Mahrez/Mikhitaryan would have been much cheaper and experienced enough to play on a high level and accept a role and the wing. You could argue that Dembele was bought to reduce avg age but that trade had all the marks of panic and they mainly did it to cover the hole left by Neymar. In oversll it's a world class midfielder they get but are rushing a bit too much which makes them also spend the money a bit too recklessly. Dynastian is on the right track

They've already blown through all the Neymar funds on one player who while brought in a as a replacement is not exactly on Neymar's level, even when Neymar was 19 - and another Liverpool player in his prime, but one who no one is really rating above Suarez, the obvious comparison.

Both of them combined do not equal Neymar. Barca lost out big here.

Yeah seem like Barca overspent a bit but on the other hand, this cover some transfer who should have been done a lot earlier. They tried not spending too much on player like Gomes, Denis Suarez and Deulofeu, we all know that didn't worked. Truth is, they needed replacement for quite a few major player and it isn't only a question of Neymar moving. Iniesta, Suarez and Busquet while still class (in term of still being good), are all aging and starting to be less and less consistent. Truth is, they should have tried to find player to replace some of them for a certain amount of time but they didn't. Now, they have no choice they need to replace Neymar and Iniesta above all else which is why they moved for Dembele and Coutinho. Are those two as good as either Neymar or Iniesta in his prime? No, they are obviously not. However, they both have great quality and very obvious potential to yet grow. And lets not fool ourselve, in today market, and in the situation in which both club didn't really wanted to lose those player, it was never going to cost small to get them to join. Beside, can anyone really say they were that many cheaper option with the same quality and potential (and pedigree) those two would have offered?

i just dont know how to feel about this...

im not angry at cou, just disappointed he couldnt wait until the end of the season. its not like he can win champions league with them. this would have been the first season where he has consistently played at a world class level; every other season he has shown glimpses of that. so again, im disappointed we never had him for a whole season at his current level, but i guess i cant be angry at him for pushing through a move when vvd did the exact same thing. he had a dream and he was merciless in pursuing it, i can respect that.

i knew signing vvd for 75 was too good to be true though. fsg only spend money when we sell a player for a big price (torres, suarez, cou). how they react to selling cou will prove to be the most crucial moment in their relationship with liverpool supporters. i cant help but feel its always one step forward, two steps back with this club.

Its a good move by Barca, expense aside. Iniesta can rest more for Champions League games and Cou can start to learn the ropes of Barcas system to eventually replace some of the aging mid players.

Hard to keep a player who opening wants to move to another team, so why force him to stay until summer, risk injury and lose out on high market value?

No way he is worth that much, but no one in my mind is. We are all at a loss for player expense these last 5 years. haha

bc what good is all that money if we miss out on top 4 and get knocked out of the champions league?

coutinho offers more than just goals and assists, he offers versatility. were going to have to replace him now on short notice (i mean, its not like no one knew he was going to go to barca). im not convinced that anyone were linked with can do the job he can. bringing in a replacement now means they have to learn the ropes (pressing, counter attacking, relationship with full backs), learn to play in more than one position (cou played left wing and cm) and and adapt to the premier league (if theyre from another league).

id gladly take less money in order to keep him. oh well, hes gone.

Philip left damn we gonna miss him he was playing unstable this season,he was about to have a sureaz season but he left in fucking January fucking January.What top team loses their best player in the mid of the seaon i actually didn't believe when i saw the nike ad i thought coutinho was just gonna stay for 6 mouths,he wanted to leave so bad he spent his own money damn.Im still exticted about he season we actually dont need anymore attacking threat we have salah , and i hope sadio starts playing to his best like last season and begginnering of the season.And we have klopp,it would be more sad losing klopp than coutinho.