Will Philippe Coutinho Extend His Liverpool Contract?

On Monday, Jurgen Klopp revealed that he could sense that the mood among Liverpool supporters isn’t as positive as it was a few weeks ago. It was surely no coincidence then that fans woke up the next day to reports that the club are in talks with star player Philippe Coutinho about a new contract.

Sorry Liverpool, but you’re going to have to do better than that. Supporters are no longer fooled by the propaganda — they’ve seen it all before. For example, when the summer transfer window closed with supporters frustrated that the Reds had failed to add the extra attacker Klopp had targeted (an offer for Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic shortly before the deadline was laughed off by the German club), the local press was full of bullish reports along the lines of “never mind, we’ll get ’em next time!”

As soon as Klopp said what he did on Monday, the more cynical among the Anfield fanbase were wondering just what “morale boosting” story was about to be fed to the local press. They didn’t have to wait long.

Cynicism aside though, what does it mean? If and when Coutinho signs this new deal, will Liverpool be any better off as a result of it? It’s debatable whether it actually makes any difference at all really, as Coutinho is already on a long-term deal that he signed in February 2015.

That deal runs until the summer of 2020, and the club have always maintained that it contains no escape clause. Will this new deal be the same? Early reports suggest so, but what if Coutinho’s representatives decide they’d like that insurance policy, just in case they want to negotiate a move to Barcelona? Would Liverpool refuse, or simply look to guarantee themselves the best possible price?

Perhaps this new contract is merely about rewarding Coutinho with a deserved pay rise based on his sparkling form this season? But given that big football clubs rarely act in the interests of anyone but themselves, it’s not unreasonable for fans to wonder if this is about the club ensuring it would be well compensated should Barca ever turn their long-standing interest in the player into a firm bid.

Not that Liverpool should be criticised for that as it’s a prudent move, but equally they shouldn’t insult supporters’ intelligence either by portraying it as cause for celebration, especially when the deal hasn’t even been signed and is merely at the discussion stage.

If the deal materialises and involves a lengthy extension, say to 2022, then that’s something at least, but it still changes very little in the grand scheme of things.

An often used expression in modern football is that “contracts are no longer worth the paper they’ve been written on.” That’s not entirely true as they do provide varying levels of security for both club and player, but new contracts do not guarantee that a player will remain at the club. Look at Dimitri Payet at West Ham for example: he signed a new deal less than a year ago but has spent the last few weeks trying to force a move away.

Closer to home, Liverpool supporters will remember what happened with Luis Suarez, who signed a new contract amid much fanfare from the club only to leave seven months later when Barcelona triggered the release clause that had been inserted into that new deal.

Depending on who you believe, Suarez had an escape clause worth £40m in his previous contract, which Arsenal believed they had activated when they bid £40,000,001, much to the annoyance of Liverpool’s principal owner John W Henry, who flat out refused to sell his prized asset. Suarez, his agent and Arsenal all believed the clause existed, but it couldn’t have been watertight or the striker would have joined the Gunners and Liverpool would have been powerless to stop him going.

There was no such confusion with the new contract he signed soon afterwards, but all that did was guarantee that they got a decent price when their best player inevitably moved on.

Is history repeating itself with Coutinho? Perhaps, although the circumstances are entirely different and as of yet Coutinho does not deserve to bracketed in the same category as Suarez, either in terms of his contribution on the pitch or his conduct off it.

Unlike Suarez, Coutinho has never given the fans reason to fear that he might be lured away. He’s repeatedly spoken of how happy and settled he is on Merseyside, and although Suarez frequently did this too, Coutinho actually seems sincere.

Suarez had left every club he’d been at to move on to bigger and better things, so it was inevitable he would one day leave Anfield as he only ever saw Liverpool as a stepping stone. Coutinho’s history is different: he left Inter Milan due to a lack of playing time and has never had his head turned by continued speculation about other clubs wanting him.

Ultimately, Liverpool entering talks about giving Coutinho a pay rise is neither good news or bad news. It’s barely news at all really, but if it gets people talking about something other than the Reds’ recent slump and the lack of transfer activity, then that is mission accomplished from the club’s point of view.