It's been a miserable 18 months for Philippe Coutinho.

The 27-year-old's dream move to Barcelona hasn't worked out and now he's set to join Bayern Munich on a season-long loan worth €20m (£18m).

Liverpool fans who once detested Coutinho now feel sorry for him, which just about sums up how much he's struggled.

Whether joining Bayern is the answer to his poor form remains to be seen, but it's become clear that Coutinho doesn't have an immediate future at Barcelona.

Indeed, Barca have included an option-to-buy clause in their agreement with Bayern, so they're clearly open to selling.

It just goes to show that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was right all along.

"Stay here and they will end up building a statue in your honour," the German told Coutinho back in May 2017.

"Go somewhere else, to Barcelona, to Bayern Munich, to Real Madrid, and you will be just another player. Here you can be something more."

Time is of the essence for Coutinho to salvage his career and he needs to take full advantage of a fresh start at Bayern.

Barcelona will just be glad to have him off the books for the time being, though there is one downside to the move.

According to Spanish outlet Sport, Barca will owe the entire €20m loan fee to Liverpool due to a clause in their €142m agreement for Coutinho from January 2018.

Liverpool included a number of clauses and one of them involved Coutinho prematurely leaving Barcelona, which will be triggered once he completes his move to Bayern.

However, the Liverpool Echo claim the fee is only €5m.

Barcelona confirmed that Coutinho's transfer to Bayern is close on Friday through club director Guillermo Amor.

"We can confirm that there is an agreement in principle for the loan of Coutinho to Bayern," he said. "We just have to finalise the deal."