After months of speculation, Philippe Coutinho is moving to Barcelona. According to reports, the midfield maestro and pocket cannon will leave Liverpool for a reported $192.7 million. The Coutinho transfer fee ranks second all-time on the list of most expensive transfers in world football.
Nigel de Jong, a former Dutch international whose most famous moment on a football pitch was when he kicked Xabi Alonso in the chest in the 2010 World Cup final and somehow didn't get sent off, has officially moved from Galatasaray in Turkey to Mainz in Germany.
According to Club America coach Miguel Herrera, the opportunity to land 27-year-old Dutch international and current PSV Eindhoven striker Luuk de Jong “has been laid on the table.” America and Herrera are looking to land an international player to rival Tigres’ Andre-Pierre Gignac (“a player with a bigger name than Gignac,” according to Herrera), and De Jong is the player the club and coach have landed on.
In what is becoming a tradition, the New York Red Bulls traded away their captain for the second straight year, sending Sacha Kljestan and $150,000 in Targeted Allocation Money to Orlando City for a pair of young players. The Red Bulls, who traded captain Dax McCarty to Chicago last year, received 23-year-old attacker Carlos Rivas and defender Tommy Redding, 20, in one of the biggest trades of the MLS offseason so far.
Will Philippe Coutinho transfer to FC Barcelona? According to Google, that’s all anyone wants to know in 2018. We’re not here to give you a definitive answer, but to break it on down like the 2 Live Crew utilizing a system developed by The Walking Dead’s Eugene Porter. Here’s Philippe Coutinho’s rumored transfer from Liverpool to Barcelona broken into the categories of “What We Know,” “What We Know We Don’t Know” and “Things We Are Unaware Of. Wholly.”
Earlier today, The Telegraph reported that Liverpool and Southampton have agreed to a $100.5 million transfer fee for defender Virgil van Dijk. This fee would break the transfer fee record for a defender, previously set by Manchester City and Kyle Walker. Van Dijk will also be Liverpool's club record signing.
Goal's Melissa Reddy, generally a pretty reliable source of Liverpool news, also reported a deal was imminent.
Liga MX side Pachuca have landed 22-year-old winger Kekuta Manneh on a free transfer after the USMNT hopeful turned down the Columbus Crew’s contract offer, electing to continue his development abroad after five years of play in Major League Soccer.
¡Welcome @kekuta16!
It’s hardly a surprise for anyone that FIFA named Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano as one of the top ten young soccer players of the year. Having scored 11 goals in 16 matches playing for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, the 22 year-old Mexican international is off to a blistering start to his European career.
Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere has responded to rumors linking striker Mario Balotelli with a return to Serie A (Milan and Inter being the destinations bandied about) by saying, “Mario leaving? No, that’s impossible. You know his importance. It’s unimaginable.”
According to Turkish journalist Sercan Dikme and as reported by Fotospor, 2016-17 Super Lig champions Besiktas (as well as current UEFA Champions League Round of 16 finalists) have signed Canadian international Cyle Larin from Orlando City SC.