Barcelona record signing Philippe Coutinho's fall from grace
The Brazilian has most likely played his last game for the Catalan giants
The most expensive signing in Barcelona’s history could have played his last game for the club. Philippe Coutinho’s contract runs until 2023, but his knee injury means his time might be up.
Coutinho hurt his left meniscus against Eibar in the last game of 2020. He had surgery quickly with the intention of playing again by April. However he has had a complicated recovery process.
He visited a specialist in Qatar, Pieter D’Hooghe, and had another surgery. Neither the player nor Barcelona reported that.
However it did not fix the issue. The player went to Brazil, putting himself in the hands of the national team medic Rodrigo Lasmar. He took out a cyst in the knee and now there is another recovery to undergo.
Coutinho was operated on in Belo Horizonte and will stay in Rio de Janeiro, where he has a house. He will not play again this season and it’s hard to imagine he will feature in the Copa America for Brazil.
Brazil face Venezuela on June 14 in their first game in the tournament hosted by Argentina and Colombia.
“He had two surgeries in Barcelona but needed a new operation to correct the injuries,” said Lasmar. “He had an arthroscopy to treat a meniscus injury and also had a cyst taken out.”
Lasmar said the player will need patience to recover completely. “His return to sport will depend on the evolution of his recovery. As it’s a third surgery we’ll have to be more cautious and we won’t make any predictions.”
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