Klopp's comment that shut down Wenger's criticism of Coutinho saga

20 January 2024 , 06:00

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Jurgen Klopp has underlined his respect for Philippe Coutinho (Image: 2017 Getty Images)

Arsene Wenger beamed about the "serene atmosphere" he had at Arsenal while he watched Liverpool try and keep Philippe Coutinho back in 2017.

The Brazilian had become the headline act at Anfield since joining in 2013 and continued to underline his brilliance with consistent performances under Jurgen Klopp. In just his second full season though the German faced the prospect of losing his playmaker, who wanted to move to Barcelona.

Coutinho wanted a move to one of Spain's giants and was left out of Liverpool's opening games in the 2017/18 season as they dealt with the speculation, which wasn't ideal preparation. Wenger was asked if he was glad that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alexis Sanchez hadn't handed in a transfer request like Coutinho to ensure a move away.

The Frenchman said: "Yes, I am very happy about that. It's important you have a serene atmosphere inside and clarity about your commitment. It's important the players aren't half in and half out and they are completely in."

There was a slight irony in Oxlade-Chamberlain leaving shortly afterwards to move to Liverpool as he sought a positional change. Meanwhile though the Reds managed to fend off interest from Barcelona and eventually bought Coutinho back into the fold.

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Klopp, in the years after the player's eventual exit, which occurred months later in the January transfer window, claims he actually had the upmost respect for the Brazilian. Coutinho underlined his desire to move to the Nou Camp, but injuries put Liverpool in a position where they simply couldn't sell up.

The Reds boss previously told the Pure Football Podcast: "I really respected Phil's switch from the first second. Not that I do that all the time but it felt oh wow that could be difficult. So it's not about yes we signed a new contract so many weeks before that but it was really clear he would not have asked me for any other club but for this club, there was no chance.

Philippe Coutinho got his move to Barcelona in January 2018 (Getty Images)

"Then we had to be hard in the summer because we had no other solution. We lost Adam Lallana [to injury] in that time as well, we would have lost two players. That's not possible, you cannot solve that on the transfer market.

"He was open to that [staying] and that was really cool. Then you have to be fair in the window and say we can do it, we don't like it but we can do it."

Liverpool ended up offloading Coutinho for a club-record £142million in a move that ended up working for all parties. The Reds though were certainly the overall long-term winners as they reinvested those funds in Virgil van Dijk, who remains a pillar of the team and helped them claim Premier League and Champions League glory.

Samuel Meade