Barcelona have very little reason to feel hard-done-by when Neymar finally completes his move to Paris Saint-Germain.
Once the French outfit have activated the Brazilian’s release clause, Ernesto Valverde will have £198million to play with for the last few weeks of the transfer window.
It poses the very enticing question of what he does with it. Barca could either bring in a like-for-like replacement, or use the money to strengthen other areas of their attacking midfield.
According to the Sun’s latest report, they’re more likely to go with the latter, as it’s claimed the La Liga runners-up are considering bids for Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard.
The danger for Barca now is that, because of the Neymar deal, other clubs could hold them to ransom as they know they have the money to spend.
Nonetheless, the club are wounded by Neymar’s imminent exit and want to make a bold statement in replacing him.
Coutinho is seen as more of a long-term successor to Andres Iniesta, who may be entering his final season at the Nou Camp. Hazard, meanwhile, has already been sounded out about a move to Catalonia, which would infuriate Real Madrid as they have been monitoring him for some time, per the same source.
As much as losing Coutinho and Hazard would be a big blow to Liverpool and Chelsea respectively, it would also be a worrying outcome for English football. Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Luis Suarez have all swapped the Premier League for La Liga in recent years, and losing two more stars would dampen the league’s prestige even further.
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