Liverpool have a mixed record when it comes to selling players to Barcelona. When Javier Mascherano and Luis Suarez forced exits in 2010 and 2014, the Reds, not yet the dominant force they would emerge as under Jurgen Klopp, would bank just £17.25m and £65m respectively as the pair left for the best team in Europe.
In seven and a half years at Camp Nou, the Argentina legend would make 334 appearances as he helped the Catalans win five La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues, five Copa del Reys, two FIFA Club World Cups, two European Super Cups and three Supercopa de Espanas.
Meanwhile, Suarez would become Barca’s third-highest all-time scorer in his six years with the Catalans, netting 198 goals from 283 appearances as he won four La Liga titles, the Champions League, four Copa del Reys, the FIFA Club World Cup, the European Super Cup and two Supercopa de Espanas with the Spanish side.
READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp is about to fully unleash a new devastating partnership at Liverpool
READ MORE: Gary Neville makes big Liverpool admission after Man United defeat to Brighton
For a combined £82.25m, it was certainly money well-spent from Barcelona as Liverpool had no choice but to wave them off in exchange for relatively meagre fees. Yet when the time came for Philippe Coutinho to push for a move to Camp Nou, the Reds certainly got their revenge.
Banking a club-record £142m, they used such funds to build Klopp’s side’s great spine of Alisson, Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho to transform Liverpool from top four hopefuls into champions of England, Europe and the world. The fact that Coutinho flopped in Catalonia made such a deal even sweeter.
Netting 26 goals from 106 appearances across four and a half seasons, he'd win two La Liga titles, two Copa del Reys and the Supercopa de Espana, but spent the majority of his time in Spain being pushed out by Barcelona. It took the Catalans just 18 months to decide they wanted rid of the Brazilian, as they sent him on loan to Bayern Munich in 2019/20.
There he would win the treble and help the Bavarians knock Barcelona out of the Champions League, only for them to decide against signing him permanently. 18 months of sporadic appearances, being booed by supporters and no suitable suitors back at Camp Nou followed before he joined Aston Villa on loan last January, ahead of linking up with the Villans permanently for just £17m this summer.
Now, the £142m signing of Coutinho is seen as one of the largest nails hammered into the Barcelona coffin. Where once they were the best team in Europe, now they are in financial ruin following years of overspending on transfer fees and wages and a shadow of their former glory.
Yet they continue to mortgage off their future in a desperate attempt to strengthen their side and stay afloat near the top of Spanish football, despite not being able to register new signings or pay current wages. Where once they would repeatedly conquer Europe, now they are fortunate just to qualify, knowing a year or two without the riches of Champions League football could see them implode even further.
Under the terms of Coutinho's departure to Camp Nou, Barca would be forced to pay an additional €100million (£89 million) premium for any other Liverpool player they wanted before 2020. As a result, while battling such financial difficulty, they inevitably did not come calling at Anfield again.
Yet with that clause long since expired, they were reportedly said to be interested in signing one Liverpool player in particular last week, with a report in Spain claiming he could even be their marquee signing in 2023. Yet even without the financial mess they continue to find themselves in, this transfer rumour will have inevitably caused raised eyebrows, if not scoffed laughter, back on Merseyside.
The subject of such interest? The Scouser in the team, Trent Alexander-Arnold. Futbol Total claimed that the La Liga giants would offer €80m (£67m) for the Reds star, who is under contract until 2025, to 'complete their squad'.
Former Liverpool defender Jose Enrique issued the perfect response to such baffling speculation when commenting: “I will say it. Will not be enough for his left leg.”
Such a report is clearly ludicrous. For starters, even without the £100m premium the Reds once held over Barcelona, even adding a one in front of £67m would arguably not be enough to land the right-back.
The 23-year-old, who registers assists for fun and possesses one of the best right feet in world football, has already won every major honour going and is one of the highest earners at Anfield. The reason his current deal, signed last summer, expires in 2025 and is not further long-term will have been agreed in the knowledge he would inevitably be due another hefty rise when the time came to next renegotiate.
Despite the recent questionable headlines again questioning his defensive ability, he is one of the best players in the world and unrivalled in his position. A future Liverpool captain in the making, his age, ability, homegrown status and contract status ensure £67m would not come near luring him away.
If Suarez was sold ‘cheaply’ for £65m eight years ago, it would take considerably more than that to sign Alexander-Arnold now. Without putting a fee on his head, it’s clear that only a couple of clubs in world football could dream of affording the England international and a fallen, financially-stricken Barcelona clearly aren’t one of them.
The Catalans might have found a way to fork out just short of £200m on Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Kounde and Ferran Torres over the past 12 months, along with Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia, Memphis Depay, Dani Alves, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie on free transfers with attractive wages and signing-on fees, but the Reds’ number 66 is well beyond their grasp. Despite such names and their desperate attempt to keep competing on their former stage, whether they accept it or not, they just aren’t the same unrivalled heavyweight they once were when boasting the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta at the peak of their powers.
Their decline in recent years has ensured they just aren’t the attractive pull they still seem to think they are. Though they remain more attractive than Manchester United at least, it seems, given Frenkie de Jong’s stubborn refusal to reunite with Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford to bail Barca out, leaving them still unable to register their new signings with less than a week to go until the start of the La Liga season.
Of course, having won every major honour possible at Anfield before the age of 24, while unlikely, it’s not inconceivable that Alexander-Arnold could look to take a leaf out of Sadio Mane’s book and seek a fresh challenge in a different major European league at some point in the future. But, at the same time, he could equally be another Jamie Carragher or Steven Gerrard and want to achieve everything on Merseyside.
It would still be a surprise if Alexander-Arnold did ever wish to depart. You could not begrudge him an exit, given all that he has already achieved, but, as a boyhood Liverpool fan, he is more likely to be of the viewpoint that anything he achieves in the game means that much more with the Reds.
Alexander-Arnold isn’t a European or South American player who grew up dreaming of playing for a Real Madrid or a Barcelona. He’s a Scouser who wanted to play for Liverpool and continues to live out his dream.
Providing the Reds remain at the top end of European football and possess a manager who wants him, he has no reason to depart. With so few clubs able to offer the trophies and riches already on offer at Anfield, any exit would be a sideways step at best. Barcelona, in contrast, would be a good few steps backwards and, courtesy of his quickly-taken corner, the right-back is one of the players who put them there.
When Coutinho wanted to depart for Camp Nou, Klopp famously warned: "Stay here, and they will build a statue in your honour. Go somewhere else, to Barcelona, to Bayern Munich, to Real Madrid, and you will be just another player. Here you can be something more."
In the past, Liverpool managers have had contend with such sides trying to lure away their greatest stars, well-aware they could offer riches both on and off the pitch fare greater than those on offer at Anfield but not anymore. The Reds are at the party now, with this fallen Barcelona the ones on the outside, looking in, and living in a fantasy world if they really think otherwise.
Alexander-Arnold is already something more on Merseyside. It’s partly why links to Europe's elite will continue throughout his career but also why the thought of him leaving for Barcelona seems so preposterous.
Klopp and his successors should have no fear of losing the Scouser in the team. The defender is Mr. Liverpool, with it a complete waste of time if any side ever comes knocking and asks the most pointless of transfer questions.
Besides, never mind 'just' being something more. The way Alexander-Arnold is going, he could well end up becoming Liverpool’s greatest ever player.
READ NEXT
'No offence' - Frank Leboeuf makes 'crazy' claim about Trent Alexander-Arnold after Liverpool draw
Alan Shearer makes 'uncomfortable' Virgil van Dijk claim after Liverpool draw at Fulham
Jurgen Klopp faces Liverpool midfield problem as forward change obvious
Glenn Hoddle sends message to Trent Alexander-Arnold after Liverpool 'error'
What happened to the eight players Liverpool blew £110m on after £75m exit
