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Philippe Coutinho's Barcelona nightmare has gone from bad to worse with the news he is likely to have coveted number seven 'blaugrana' shirt taken off him.

The Catalan giants today announced the signing of Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann, with reports in Spain suggested the Frenchman will wear the No.7 shirt currently occupied by the Reds' former playmaker.

Coutinho, who made the move from Anfield to the Camp Nou in January 2018, initially wore the No.14 shirt at the Camp Nou before being presented with the number seven.

It is another setback for the Brazilian whose dream move to Catalonia has not worked out thus far in the way he would have hoped, with his substitution during the Barca's humiliating 4-0 Champions League semi-final second leg in May putting into sharp contrast the fortunes of both parties since the beginning of last year.

Back in March, we spoke to ESPN's Barcelona correspondent Samuel Marsden who gave some real insight into how and why the Brazilian has struggled since achieving his 'dream' move.

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Two points clear at the top of the Premier League, and through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Liverpool can have no complaints with how their season is shaping up.

But throughout the campaign there has been plenty of talk about how the Reds still lack a No 10, a playmaker... a Philippe Coutinho.

Coutinho, of course, left Liverpool for Barcelona in January 2018 for an eye-watering £142m fee.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp used the huge cash injection wisely with the signings of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker helping establish his side as one of the most feared in England and in Europe.

It’s clear, looking back, that Liverpool got the better end of the deal.

But equally no-one could have envisaged the troubles that Coutinho would encounter at the Nou Camp – troubles that have led to reports suggesting the Brazilian could be sold in the summer with Manchester United one of the clubs linked to his signature.

But has Coutinho’s ‘dream move’ to Barca really turned into a nightmare?

“I don’t know if that is too dramatic,” said Samuel Marsden , who is the Barcelona correspondent for ESPN.

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“It’s been bubbling on for a couple of months now and it’s really interesting to look into. He came in the January (of 2018), it was his dream move, and he basically had a free six months. Nothing was really expected of him. He did really well, he scored 10 goals in 22 appearances, but he didn’t have that pressure of having to come in and perform straight away, because he couldn’t play in the Champions League (having already played for Liverpool in the competition).

“So the (Champions League) exit to Roma wasn’t on him, and he was allowed the second half of the league season, when the (La Liga) title was almost wrapped up, to bed in and get used to his new team-mates. There was the Copa del Rey as well, and he did really well.

(Image: JOSE JORDAN/AFP/Getty Images)

“But things have slowly unravelled this season to the point where now he wouldn’t be a starter if everyone was fit, and even on Sunday, against Real Betis, a big game for Barcelona, with Ousmane Dembele missing (through injury), he was left out of the team in favour of a four-man midfield with (Arturo) Vidal. He came on for the last minute and it felt like a big sign of the way that (Barca boss Ernesto) Valverde is thinking with Coutinho at the moment.

“Valverde has given Coutinho a lot of chances, probably more chances that he would have given other players, because of the fee that Barca paid for him, and obviously the quality he has as well. He seemed like a player playing without confidence at times and Valverde kept playing him and stuck with him to try and bring that confidence back. But he’s not quite managed to get that confidence or spark back that he did have when he first joined the club.”

Coutinho has lost his place in Barcelona’s three-pronged attack alongside Lionel Messi and fellow former Red Luis Suarez to France international Dembele.

And the idea of Coutinho becoming the long-term replacement for Andres Iniesta also appears to have been jettisoned.

“I’m not sure his form is do with the fee, I think it’s more to do with a positional thing,” said Marsden, on our latest podcast on the Blood Red channel.

“Robert Fernandez, the sporting director who signed him, but who is now not in the job, he does punditry on television, and he’s spoken a bit about Coutinho in the last few weeks, and he’s of the firm opinion that Coutinho’s best position would be in midfield, and the idea was that he would come and sort of step into Iniesta’s role, on that inside left position, and from the start of the season that’s where we did see him play.

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“But Valverde quickly dropped him from that role because he felt that Barca needed a midfield prepared to work more and defend, and having Coutinho was almost like having a fourth attacker rather than having a third midfielder. So Coutinho was then moved to the left-wing and Dembele was dropped and there were problems with Dembele.

“But then Coutinho got injured, Dembele got his act together, got into the team and did well. So from feeling like he didn’t have a home in the team, to then getting injured, and then losing his place to Dembele, it’s all contributed to knocking his confidence.

“He’s had his moments but it’s not the Coutinho we saw at Liverpool and it’s hard to see how he recovers his spark.”

(Image: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Despite Coutinho’s troubles, Barca look set to retain their La Liga title, are one final win away from landing the Copa del Ray for a record fifth year in a row, and are up against Manchester United in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Should Valverde’s men overcome United, they would face either Liverpool or Porto in the semi-finals.

That could lead Coutinho returning to Anfield for the first time since his departure.

But could the 26-year-old be back playing in the Premier League next season – if not with the Reds, then their eternal rivals?

Marsden said: “The longer this goes on the more feasible that Barca would accept an offer. The problem is they paid so much for him, and have invested so much into him, that they don’t want to take a big hit.

“At the moment the official line is he’s not for sale. But unofficially there are whispers that if Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich or whoever it may be, came in during the summer and tested Barcelona with a bid, maybe of around £100m, then maybe the club would think now is the right time to cut their losses.



“As for Liverpool, I don’t have any insight from their point of view, but if they did come in with a bid it would almost like Barca would be put off by selling him back to the club where they bought him from. Even if Liverpool were to match the same price that another club was prepared to pay, it almost feels like Barcelona would have been had off.”

Barca have already signed Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong for next season and are confident of snapping up his team-mate, highly rated teenage defender Matthijs de Ligt, who has also been linked with Liveprool .

And that could have consequences for Coutinho.

“They’ve signed Frenkie de Jong but they are still looking to strengthen,” said Marsden, who also talks Suarez, Messi and that possible Champions League showdown with the Reds in the podcast .

“They’re probably going to sign Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax as well, they’re certainly confident of beating other clubs to him, and they are also looking to bring in a young number nine to provide back up to Suarez at first but with the aim of him being a long-term replacement for Suarez, as well as a left-back because Jordi Alba is the only left-back at the club.

“But to sign all the players they want, some will have to go. There are players who they'll be able to sell for smaller fees – they’d hope to get a little bit Andre Gomes, who is on loan at Everton, and Denis Suarez, who is on loan at Arsenal – and maybe a couple of others.

“But depending how many of their top targets they are able to get, there is talk of a big player could have to be sold and their two main options at the moment are Coutinho and Ivan Rakitic. Rakitic is 31, he wants a new contract, and while he’s an important part of the team, the club could see him as saleable, even if the manager doesn’t agree.

“So there could be some sagas there with Rakitic and Coutinho.”