Philippe Coutinho is now officially a Barcelona player following his stunning £142 million move from Liverpool.The Brazilian sealed his dream move to the Camp Nou after Liverpool realised his heart no longer belonged on Merseyside.It’s not all bad news for the Reds, though. With £142m to spend, supporters can be optimistic that Jurgen Klopp will bring in a worthy replacement.Many completely agreed with Jamie Carragher’s tweet after the clubs agreed a fee last Saturday.“142 million though! Just need to use the money better than we did when Suarez left!!,” the former Liverpool defender wrote.

When you remember the players brought in after Suarez’s departure in 2014, you get what Carragher means. Mario Balotelli, Rickie Lambert and Lazar Markovic were among the transfers that just didn’t work out.

Barcelona: We signed Coutinho for a reduced fee

Yet, according to Barcelona’s vice-president, Jordi Mestre, Coutinho’s £142m fee is much less than they could have paid.

"The interest of the club has always been to take Coutinho to Barcelona," Mestre said, per the Evening Standard. "The difference is that there has been a substantial reduction in the cost of this transfer.

"There has been a very important reduction, even though we cannot publicly give the figures. We are not going to discuss the numbers.”

Liverpool have responded

Interesting. Why, if they were eager for Coutinho to stay, would Liverpool let him leave for a reduced fee?

Well, according to the Premier League club, they didn’t.

Liverpool have rubbished Barcelona’s claim that they cut Coutinho’s price, per the Telegraph.

“Liverpool sources familiar with the negotiations are adamant that is not the case because no price was ever proposed by the club’s owners Fenway Sports Group,” Chris Bascombe writes.

“Barca’s suggestion does not tally with the Merseyside club’s firm position that there was no fee which would have forced the 25-year-old’s sale last summer.”

Coutinho will pay £11.5m of his own money

Bascombe adds that negotiations only got underway between the clubs recently, with Liverpool refusing to enter talks over the playmaker in the summer.

It recently emerged that Coutinho himself will make a contribution of £11.5 million to ensure the deal was completed.

That tells you everything you need to know about his desire to sign for Barcelona.