I’m not going to lie; I’m gutted about Philippe Coutinho leaving. Not as gutted as Suárez leaving, obviously, but still like 60% as much.

I’ve tried calling on righteous indignation using the ‘no player is bigger than the club’ mantra; I’ve tried saying good riddance and calling him a snake; I’ve tried believing the tabloids tell us we’re going to sign Thomas Lemar, Julian Draxler, Alexis Sanchez, Leon Goretzka, Riyad Mahrez, Nabil Fekir, or Christian Pulisic (or possibly all seven) this month. But the only positive seems that we were doomed to lose him anyway and letting him go now puts an end to the whole fiasco of endless media speculation and constant underhanded games from Barcelona, allowing the rest of the team to try and get back to the season at hand.

It’s little comfort though because there’s now a huge void in our attack and it needs filling immediately. And if getting the right player in this month seems like a big ask, then getting a new signing to fit into a new system and gel with a new set of teammates halfway through the season seems not only impossible but unfair. Whilst we still have plenty of strength left in the squad, such destablisation has serious potential to derail our season and cause us to miss out on Champions League qualification (and totally negate any extra millions we may have squeezed from Barca by selling mid-season).

For my own catharsis, let’s eulogise Phil for a bit first before trying to look for any golden sky. An intelligent player that could carve something out of seemingly nothing, Coutinho really honed his finishing over the last few seasons, trademarking his cut-inside-and-curl-it and achieving clinicality ¹ inside the box – in fact, I can’t off the top of my head remember him scoring a bad goal. But his development into a proper playmaker over the last two seasons has been an equal joy to behold; his ability to dictate the tempo of the game, his roaming movement and ability to open up areas of the pitch with a mazy dribble or well-placed pass.

His deep-lying central role in the 4-0 against West Ham near the end of last season really displayed his cultivated creativity and maturity for me, and was the first time I had that spine-tingling “holy shit, we’ve got a world class player on our hands” moment (closely followed by that spine-tingling “oh shit, Spain are soon going to be calling” moment). It’s these attributes that have proven the difference between a frustrating draw and grasping three points on many occasions. I won’t go as far as to say he recaptured Gerrard’s infamous ability to pick the team up by the scruff of the neck (Phil’s always seemed more likely to go missing in the big games), but it’s certainly felt the closest we’ve came to having that back in the team since he left.

To reiterate before succumbing to my own melodrama: Coutinho’s loss feels nowhere near as devastating as Suárez’s. ² It’s probably not even as worrying as the departures of Xabi Alonso or Stevie G, because (a) we genuinely seem to have greater squad depth now than these previous times, and (b) we’ve got a manager I trust much more to find a suitable replacement than spunking the money on magic beans or Andy Carroll. The scheduled arrival of Naby Keita (probably) at the end of the season offers some comfort, although he seems like more of a replacement for Emre Can’s (or competition for Henderson’s) box-to-box-midfield role, i.e. more running, less cunning. (I still think we need a proper CDM too, but that’s a topic for another day.)

And in the meantime, there’s plenty of positives in the immediate team. We’ve still got the rest of the ‘Fab Four’ (that’s one plus side at least, not having to cringe slightly at hearing this any more): Firmino’s dogged determinedness to win the ball back in dangerous areas and initiate attacks (I only found last week that he started his career as a CDM), Mane’s pace and occasional ability to pass the ball, Salah’s… everything. The return of Lallana will hopefully add some energy back to the midfield once he finds his stride again. Our wing backs – Robertson on the left and TAA / Gomez on the right – seem to be capable of whipping the ball in the box and are developing a promising overlap out wide. ³ Ox’s set piece delivery has also been fantastic in the last few games, which is potentially a match made in heaven with the arrival of Virgil’s big head.

Nevertheless, one thing I feel we’ve often lacked without Coutinho playing is penetration on the front line, especially against teams that park the bus. Of all the touted replacements, the (realistically possible) one I’ve got my fingers crossed for is Thomas Lemar. I haven’t seen him play a great deal but am interested in what I do know: he plays left or central attacking midfield, drops deep and drives forward into space, is comfortable retaining possession, is a good passer, and decent from set pieces. Most of the cons I’ve come across are that he’s not particularly pacey, decidedly one-footed, and simply not going to replace the sheer creative power we’re losing. Then again, I’d argue only a handful of players in the world could fill those boots in that respect; the fact that he’s 22 years old (and arguably better than Phil was at that age) and allegedly seeking a move away from Monaco should be major selling points.

The inevitable bitter pill to swallow – whomever we go for, now or in the summer – is going to be the price. Reports suggested Monaco accepted a £90m from Arsenal in the summer (an apparently ill-conceived bluff by Arsenal which they hilariously pulled the plug on immediately after the bid was accepted), and whilst this would have seemed like silly money even a year ago, I would just say fuck it and cough up £90m now if he seems like the best fit. We’re never going to get a bargain with a transparent warchest anyway.

Many have argued we shouldn’t rush out and sign a replacement this month given some of the previous flops we’ve purchased in January: Christian Benteke, Mario Balotelli, Andy Carroll. But what about the good signings? Suarez, Sturridge, Mascherano, Agger, and Coutinho himself were all signed in January transfer windows. This hit:miss ratio seems much the same as during the summer transfer window to me.

I’ve got faith in Jürgen. He’s had five months to prepare for this increasingly-likely eventuality, and he’s got 23 shopping days left to steady the ship. Surely there’s a plan in place; you wouldn’t think we’d have spent £75m on a defender this month unless we were focussed on the season at hand.. But there’s a serious chasm in the engine room of the team now and it needs to be addressed immediately.

Epilogue:

As for Phil, I wish the lad the best of luck, although I’d be lying if I said it was with quite the same degree of genuine amicability as I wished the departing Suárez. It’s hard to put a finger on why I (and it seems many others) feel this way. If a player genuinely wants to leave his current club and there’s nothing the club can do to change their mind, then recovering a decent fee from their eventual departure seems like the only good option available to the club. The £142m Coutinho fetched was (probably at least partly) due to him signing a new contract with Liverpool in January, but this contract has acted like a leash for him and many have demanded he see out the remaining 4.5 years left on it.

One could argue this is exactly how contracts should work. Yet I’ve heard many grievances about Emre Can refusing to sign a new contract with Liverpool and choosing to instead leave for Juventus on a free at the end of this season, despite him honouring the contract he signed by seeing it out and choosing not to sign another one. If you have ambitions of leaving your current club, it seems you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t (sign a new contract). I’m not sure which option is better for the player, but as a fan I feel much more aggrieved to be losing Can after sinking £10m, four years, and 100+ games into developing him than to be cashing in on £142m for Phil.