Former Blues Frank Leboeuf said Barcelona are guilty of overpaying for Philippe Coutinho’s transfer and Chelsea should not pay the price for it.
Coutinho has been heavily linked with a summer move to Stamford Bridge. There have been reports that Barcelona are demanding €80million to €90m for the Brazil international (Sport).
Despite the fact that Barcelona would take a massive loss of around €65m if they sell Coutinho this summer, Leboeuf thinks the Blaugrana caused the mess themselves by paying €145m to Liverpool in 2018.
He told ESPN FC: “Well, to be really honest, and frank, no (Chelsea should not sign him).
“I think Coutinho is a good player and I’m not even trying to be harsh on him, I think I want to find Barcelona guilty for the situation because they put a price on Coutinho who I think doesn’t belong to that league.
“Now it’s hard to reverse the system, it’s hard to think that you can even the price and accept to lose like €65m for a transfer.”
Leboeuf then explained how he sees top, top players in Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe; but not Coutinho.
He continued: “Coutinho has a price of a top, top player and I don’t want to make a statement but I’m not sure he has the quality of a top, top player.”
Read also:
- Chelsea fans in heated debate on reported Chelsea’s interest in Coutinho
- Report explains how much Chelsea would have to pay to sign Coutinho
- Why Coutinho could be a cheaper alternative to Jadon Sancho for Chelsea
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