Coutinho: Barcelona's eternal prospect

Philippe Coutinho was unveiled as Barcelona's most expensive ever signing in January of 2018, but since then he has been unable to fully display the talent we saw at Liverpool.

In fact, despite, or perhaps because of, the extortionate fees involved in his transfer, the possibility of Coutinho being sold has been on the table almost since his arrival.

He did leave last season, but only on loan, and at Bayern Munich he was also unable to shine the way he did at Anfield.

Ronald Koeman had been prepared to give the Brazilian a chance this season, but injury has limited his chances, as has the form of Pedri.

This summer Coutinho will be available for transfer, but complications with his knee injury could make that difficult as it is now unlikely he will see much action before the end of the season.

Barcelona might well view the 28-year-old as a high-value sellable asset, but they'll be hard pushed to see much of their outlay back for an out-of-form and injury-prone player who will turn 30 in summer 2022.

Joan Laporta has his sights set on Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland, but any move for him would almost certainly require getting a decent price for Coutinho, as well as moving on other players.

With two years still to run on his deal at the Camp Nou, Coutinho is in a situation where the club aren't quite sure what to do with him.