It was an unusual, eerie silence before the storm splashed in at Camp Nou. Barcelona, lead by Ernesto Valverde tried to persuade the Italian midfielder Marco Verratti to join the Catalan giants before the side from Paris rejected the deal. The silence that followed ever-since led to the signing of the Brazilian attacker Neymar from Camp Nou to Parc de Princes.
The Brazilian shifted from being a part of the trident, that gave goals when the coach needed it from then, whenever the side was under tremendous pressure except twice in the last year. The very such incident came against the 3-0 loss at the hands of the Parisians away from home, before the Catalans came home victors in the reverse leg by a margin that people would have less foreseen.
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Now since the Brazilian has become a thing of the past for the side led by Ernesto Valverde after the transfer of 225 million euros between the two clubs. The 25-year-old has already been presented as the No.10 for his new club, officially confirming that the Brazilian has come out of Lionel Messi’s shadows at Camp Nou.
Ever since the big-move was finalized, Barcelona has been on the verge of signing a replacement for the Brazilian, but nothing has materialized till date. Barcelona, have in the last week tried to finalize the deal that would bring the 26-year-old Coutinho to Camp Nou, but the deal has never materialized with the suitor’s club, Liverpool.
Coutinho, leading the shortlist as a replacement for Neymar:
Although the 26-year-old player who plies his trade in Merseyside has been largely in the limelight for replacing his Brazilian counterpart, the club directors have had their eye on several other players. Initial reports suggested that there would be a trade involving the transfer of Neymar, with one of the four players from Parc de Princes switching the jersey.
The four players that were suggested as a part of this blockbuster-deal were Adrien Rabiot, Angel di Maria, Julian Draxler and the Italian midfielder Marco Verratti only for the reports to be false. Barcelona ever since has had their sights fixed on the French winger Ousmane Dembele and the Brazilian Coutinho with SkySports suggesting that a deal between the club and the two players have been close.
Earlier in the day, Sky sports suggested that the Brazilian midfielder Coutinho has agreed personal terms to join the club in Barcelona, but the Brazilian has clearly mentioned that it would be only via a proper negotiation between the two clubs.
Barcelona has submitted an 80 million bid for the midfielder, although the Merseyside has rejected the bid. Jurgen Klopp has made his statement pretty clear to Valverde and co that the Brazilian superstar is not for sale.
Could Dembele make it to the top of the list?
French winger and Borussia’s young stalwart Ousmane Dembele has been on the list of replacements for the Brazilian skipper Neymar. Dembele has always been on Barcelona’s wish list even before the winger made a move to the German club, while he was still plying his trade at Rennes.
The winger is more of a tricky customer compared to Coutinho, who is more of a balanced player. Dembele has come ever-so-close to completing a transfer to the place he dreams of playing at one-day. According to Sky reports in Germany, Borussia Dortmund forward Ousmane Dembele wants a move to Barcelona.
The Bundesliga side has always denied that the forward is moving away from the club, while they are always listening to offers of more than £90m for the 20-year-old, who is waiting for the two clubs to agree on a deal. Dembele scored ten goals in 49 appearances for Dortmund last season after joining the club for £13m from Rennes in the summer and will relish the challenge of playing alongside Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi.
