Lionel Messi agent scoffs at £142m Philippe Coutinho price tag

The £142million transfer fee for Philippe Coutinho “cannot be accepted as the market price”, according to the agent who discovered Lionel Messi.

Coutinho was unveiled as the second most expensive player of all time on Monday when he signed from Liverpool on a five-and-a-half-year, £12.1million a season deal with a €400million (£355m) buyout clause.

The Reds will receive all that fee, including £36million in add-ons if Coutinho plays 100 times for Barca, and the Catalan club win the Champions League club in 2018/19 and 2019/20.

However, Josep Maria Minguella, the man who propelled Messi to stardom, doesn’t believe Coutinho is worth the money.

“Coutinho is not worth €160million,” he told the T4 programme on Radio MARCA.

“He is a good player, who will improve the team but he can’t be worth what they paid for him.

“Now Coutinho at €160million,  despite the current madness in the world of football, that can’t be accepted as the market price.”

The Guardian report that half of the £36million add-on fees will come from appearance milestones, with the other half based on Barcelona’s European exploits.

The £36m breakdown in full:

£18million for Coutinho’s first 100 matches for Barca – they will pay £4.5m at each 25-match interval to total £18m
£4.5m due if Barca qualify for 2018/19 Champions League
Another £4.5m if they qualify for the 19/20 Champions League
A further £4.5m for winning the Champions League in 18/19
And £4.5m again if they win the Champions League again in 19/20