Spanish reports claimed on Saturday that the injury to Philippe Coutinho's left knee is bad news for Barcelona as Ronald Koeman has lost yet another first-team player, but it could end up saving the Catalan club a lot of money.
"As part of the terms of his 2018 transfer from Liverpool, Barcelona were due to pay the English side an extra 20 million euros after the Brazilian's 100th appearance for the club,"Marca reported.
However, he has only made 90 caps so far and now faces several months out after his knee surgery.
"It seemed this would be a simple clause to reach, but Coutinho hasn't yet done so after spending last year on loan and after suffering this injury," it added.
"His transfer was worth 120m euros plus 40m euros in add-ons, with 15m euros of these already paid. These were 5m euros for Champions League qualification in the first two seasons and 5m euros more for reaching 25 appearances," the Spanish newspaper noted.
Coutinho, who has a contract at the club until 2023, is expected back at the end of April and there won't be many matches left after that date.
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