20 Aug 2017 12:04:38
I am still struggling to understand the timing on Pipcos transfer to Barca.

Pipco was seen as an Iniesta replacement and all that has happened is that Barcelona have unexpectedly lost Neymar and got a shed load of money.

Why are Barcelona bringing forward the Pipco transfer when they could leave that to next season and sort out the other issues in the side with a woeful defence and need to replace Neymar.

Why is it now or never when Iniesta is still at Barcelona this season.

If Pipco has to be sold this season let's hope LFC have the deals sorted to bring in the RBL guy and the CB we are no longer interested in! If that was to happen it would make losing Pipco more acceptable.

PS. How ironic it would be if we do the Pipco deal with Barcelona only for Pipco to fail his medical due to a chronic back problem!

{Ed002's Note - They are not "bringing it forward, it has been on the cards for more than a year. It is nothing to do with Neymar's transfer.}


1.) 20 Aug 2017
20 Aug 2017 12:21:12
Ed002 thanks for you response.

I had been under the impression from comments made By Guillem Ballague that Pipco was to be seen as a target next season.

The Neymar thing then came up and blindsided Barcelona and they seem to have responded with bringing forward Pipco deal when they maybe should b dealing with other issues

Anway Ed002 I take what you say as correct and thank you.

{Ed002's Note - No, as I have been explaining for more than a year, Coutinho has been looking to engineer this move. They want him now and have been doing the right thing and making offers and discussing the matter with Liverpool. Liverpool have made it clear that they do not wish to sell and Barcelona will look to other options.}


2.) 20 Aug 2017
20 Aug 2017 12:22:47
My question is why did they leave it so late to try sign him if they offered 120 million at the start of the window he'd be playing for them now.

{Ed002's Note - The transfer window is still open - there are a large number of very significant transactions that are yet to happen.}


3.) 20 Aug 2017
20 Aug 2017 12:37:30
Ed002 was Pipco badly advised by his people to sign his contract extension with LFC with no provisions giving room for Barcelona to come in for him given he was looking to get to Barcelona sometime soon?

{Ed002's Note - The contract extension is nothing to do with it. He had already had his agent go speak with Barcelona by that point.}


4.) 20 Aug 2017
20 Aug 2017 12:40:01
If he has been engineering this move for more than a year why sign a 5 year deal and tie your hands behind your back or was that so his agent could make a shed load of money.

{Ed002's Note - Ignore the contract.}


5.) 20 Aug 2017
20 Aug 2017 12:59:18
I know I am taking my life in my hands, but. why ignore the contract?

Are we really saying that they are barely worth the paper they are written on and are purely mechanism for pay rises in return for a sham of commitment, which lasts only until a prettier girl comes along? You can see why fans would struggle with that, and I can imagine there will come a time when clubs won't.

Ed, I firmly believe there are always three sides to every story, and this is not my industry so there will be large amounts that I am oblivious too, but are you really saying that contracts are of next to no relevance now in football (which has probably been the reality for a while now)? If so, I would be interested if you have thoughts on how ownership of players, contracts, etc may evolve in the future, as clubs and players seem to have rapidly diverging interests.

{Ed002's Note - I did not say that contracts have next to no relevance. I have no idea why you are unable to grasp the simple situation that we have here. It is a player who wants to leave, a club that wants to buy and a club that doesn't want to sell. It is business as usual and there is nothing in any way special about Countinho or this potential transfer at all. You seem to think there is something strange going on. There isn't.}


6.) 20 Aug 2017
20 Aug 2017 13:04:04
Ed002 it seems that the football business is like the Wild West. ignore the contract!

Pipco wants to leave LFC for Barcelona and is in process of getting move sorted but he still signs contract extension with LFC with no provisions that allow for Barcelona to come in.

It does seem that Pipcos people have not been too smart in their lives hinking.

I understand that Pipco wants to go to Barcelona and I don't have a problem with that given. It just seems odd that he ties himself up with a long contract at LFC whilst trying to engineer his Barcelona move.

Why should we ignore the contract. it gives LFC the winning hand should they chose to go all the way I this poker game.

{Ed002's Note - You seem to be simply making stuff up about "provisions for Barcelona to come in". This is the norm, it happens al;l of the time. It is the transfer process that for some reason many Liverpool supporters simply cannot grasp. The contract is of no relevance whatsoever - it is up to the club whether they will sell or not - the contract does not come in to it.}


7.) 20 Aug 2017
20 Aug 2017 13:14:13
Maybe i missed the reason but why have Barcelona taken a "now or never" stance. If they fail to get pipco this window and also fail to replace iniesta before next season why would they not retry negotiations next season. Couts is coming into his prime and will most likely only get better. Surely Barcelona won't drop all interest if he was available say next summer would they?

{Ed002's Note - The want the player now - it is very, very simple. If they cannot get the player now, they will look to another target instead of Coutinho.}


8.) 20 Aug 2017
20 Aug 2017 13:23:17
I just feel that if they really want him, and he also really want to go to them, they should start all of this much much earlier. I started to understand more the frustrations, it seems too late to find someone to replace him with the window just left a few days. By replacement, I meant in midfield though.


9.) 20 Aug 2017
20 Aug 2017 13:23:44
Ed I appreciate its hard to answer but in YOUR opinion will Pipco join Barcelona this window?

{Ed002's Note - I really don't know. He wants to move and has been courting Barcelona for more than a year and don't forget that Liverpool and Klopp know that he is pretty desperate to join Barcelona.}


10.) 20 Aug 2017
20 Aug 2017 13:28:51
Thanks Ed002.

Will be interesting to see if LFC fans are happy once transfer window closes.

I am still hoping Macca is right about who he would thinks may be coming in to the club.

We will miss Pipco if he goes but we will survive.


11.) 20 Aug 2017
20 Aug 2017 13:43:43
But eds02 what about the contract? Lol.


12.) 20 Aug 2017
20 Aug 2017 13:59:33
Hi ed002

Do you expect one final bid from Barcelona next week?

{Ed002's Note - I would not be surprised if there were one final offer.}


13.) 20 Aug 2017
20 Aug 2017 14:46:12
Ed, sorry I was not suggesting that you were saying that they were no value, that was my interpretation from you saying"ignore the contract". Also my comment was not suggesting anything strange is going on here it is universal, and to me vvd is the same (and no doubt many more), so this is in no way me playing a poor old Liverpool card, I think the power balance seems a little lopsided at the moment, and players sign long and lucrative contracts and want to leave 5 minutes later.

I understand by one of your other responses that the reason that the contract has no relevance in your view, is because the owners will either sell, or they won't and therefore his contract is not relevant. That makes perfect sense from a completely objective perspective. However it appears that it is not that simple, because players these days seem to agitate for moves more, behave shall we say "interestingly" if they don't get their way. don't train properly, and even refuse to play (or even return to the country) . Worse is the suggestion (not from you) that many of them are "advised" to behave a certain way to get what they want.

Honestly not suggesting the Pipco situation is in any way abnormal, if anything it is becoming sadly too common.

In your view did players always do this, but it was less visible to fans before 24 hour multi-platform news, or is it as it seems a more recent phenomena?

{Ed002's Note - It is common for players to want to move on.}