Philippe Coutinho made his dream move to Barcelona complete yesterday. The Brazilian joined the Catalans for £145 million; netting the Reds a healthy profit on the £8.5 million they signed him from Inter Milan in 2013. The story could have been different if he was making the move just for the sake of money. Reports in Spain via Sun Sport are claiming that Real Madrid made a last minute desperate attempt to hijack the move from Barcelona. Per the source, Los Blancos offered the Reds £178 million at the last minute to send Coutinho their way instead. However, Continue was unsure if Real Madrid really wanted him or were just trying to increase his valuation. He stuck to his desire to move to Barca and Real’s effort to distract him was in vain. The Brazilian reportedly paid £11 million of his own money to fulfill a life-long “dream” of playing for the Catalans. His former Liverpool teammate, Luis Suarez has already prepared the ground for his arrival off the field with the Uruguayan purchasing a property for the 25 years old even before he knew Coutinho would be joining them. Coutinho would miss the next three weeks after his medicals revealed he has injured his thigh.

Barcelona have finally signed Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool for a record £150 million. The Brazilian’s transfer was announced earlier today after his medical ad he signed a five-and-half years deal. Coutinho had been fighting to join the Catalans since last summer and even submitted a transfer request to make things easy, but Liverpool held firm in their decision not to sell. Liverpool were keen to keep hold of the Brazilian beyond this month, they even made a last-ditch attempt to make him captain and offered him a new deal. But he was insistent that his future and that of his family was away in Barcelona. The Reds had no choice but to grant him his wish. The attacking midfielder joined Liverpool for just £8.5 million in the winter of 2013 and leaves them with no trophies after 5 years. The £150 million transfer fee is a new British record and makes Coutinho the second most expensive player in history behind his compatriot, Neymar. To avoid a situation like that of Neymar, Barcelona have inserted a release clause of £355 million into his deal. The Red’s have begun looking at alternatives with Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City and Thomas Lemar of AS Monaco their top targets.