Summary Jurgen Klopp's success at Liverpool is due to his tactical philosophy and excellent transfers, such as signing Salah, Mane, and Firmino. Klopp's ability to sell players at the right time, like Coutinho, has allowed him to fund future transfers and strengthen the team. Coutinho's career has declined since leaving Liverpool, with his value dropping drastically, highlighting Klopp's ability to make smart transfer decisions.

Jurgen Klopp’s success at Liverpool has been built on getting his players to utilise his tactical philosophy to great effect while combining this with some excellent business in the transfer window.

Since his arrival back in 2015, the German has led the club to the elusive Premier League title, a Champions League crown and a host of other trophies which will surely place him among the pantheon of club greats once he leaves the club.

He has signed players such as Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Roberto Firmino, who had threatened to blossom elsewhere, but it took until a move to the Reds for the players to really bloom, while constantly getting the best out of various academy players too, notably Trent Alexander-Arnold.

His ability to sell his stars at the right time has also been key to success, allowing Klopp to fund future transfers by moving on players who see their future elsewhere.

One of the best pieces of transfer business conducted by Klopp was the sale of Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho, especially considering his career decline since leaving Anfield.

How much did Liverpool sign Philippe Coutinho for?

Under Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool came extraordinarily close to securing their first league title since 1990 during the 2013/14 season, yet this was to be the highlight of his three-year spell in charge.

The Northern Irishman was the man responsible for the signing of Coutinho, securing his signature for a fee in the region of £8.5m in 2013, and he proved to be an immediate hit with the supporters.

During his first 18 months on Merseyside, Coutinho scored eight times and registered 15 assists, and it looked as though it was going to turn into an excellent piece of business by the club.

What happened to Philippe Coutinho?

The Brazilian really took off following the arrival of Klopp following a poor start to the 2015/16 season which saw Rodgers get the sack.

By the end of that term, Coutinho had scored ten goals across all competitions, his best return since joining the club, but the best was yet to come.

Klopp managed to bring the best out of the former Inter Milan gem, giving him plenty of freedom to express his creative talents, and it clearly worked during the 2016/17 campaign, as he registered 23 goal contributions – 14 goals and nine assists – throughout the season, while it was evident something special was building at Anfield.

Indeed, 12 goals in just 19 games to start the following season off was a stunning return, but his form had also attracted interest from other clubs, most notably Barcelona. Such a move seemed inevitable for the "magic" star – as he was dubbed by Sky Sports' Melissa Reddy.

The La Liga side eventually got their man for a staggering initial transfer fee of £105m (£142m in total with add-ons) which represented a profit of £133.5m from the original fee just five years previously and a staggering increase of 1,135%.

Over the subsequent years, it appears as though Klopp has struck gold by selling Coutinho when he did as the player’s career has taken a nosedive recently.

Where is Philippe Coutinho now?

His spell in Spain started off fairly well, scoring nine goals across just 22 games as helped the club claim the league title while he followed this up by winning another La Liga crown the term after, although his goal rate dipped, netting just 11 times in 54 matches.

The 5 foot 8 gem was soon shipped out to Bayern Munich on loan, and he ended up gaining some form of revenge on Barcelona, scoring twice against them in the Champions League quarter-finals in 2020, going on to claim his first winners medal in the competition.

The next 18 months saw the Brazilian suffer from a variety of injury problems, ruling him out of 53 matches and it was clear that the ability which saw him shine at Anfield and secure the big-money move to Spain was flickering only occasionally.

He eventually joined his former teammate Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa for a loan spell and five goals in just 19 Premier League appearances convinced the former Rangers boss to sign him permanently in the summer of 2022.

The 2022/23 campaign proved to be extremely poor, even being criticised by ex-striker Gabby Agbonlahor, who labelled him as “non-existent” following Villa’s opening day defeat to Bournemouth, and it failed to get better for him after that.

The 31-year-old now finds himself playing for Al-Duhail SC in Qatar, joining them on loan from Unai Emery’s side, and he will need to have his best season in years to convince the Spaniard he can still play a part in the English top flight.

How much is Philippe Coutinho worth now?

According to Football Transfers, Coutinho is now valued at just €15.6m (£13m), a mammoth drop of £92m from the initial fee that Liverpool received for him in January 2018.

Not many would have predicted the player to go into such a sharp decline since departing Anfield, especially with his quality to turn games on their head and provide such a dangerous attacking threat from either out wide or just behind the striker.

Having netted 107 club career goals and winning the Champions League, two La Liga crowns and the Bundesliga, Coutinho has had a solid career while playing for some of Europe’s finest teams, yet there is a nagging question of what more could he have achieved, especially in the previous four seasons where his form declined.

Klopp, it seems, isn’t only the master of signing players for a modest fee and turning them into global superstars, but he clearly has an eye for selling players when they are at or just past their peak for inflated fees.

The Brazilian worked wonders under the 56-year-old, but it was perhaps his sale which proved to be the catalyst for the Reds to become one of the most dominant sides in England, as the fee from his sale was used to sign players such as Alisson, Naby Keita and Fabinho during the summer of 2018, just six months after he had departed the club.

Although his departure was inevitable, Klopp hit the jackpot on the attacking midfielder by selling him for a club-record sum that still stands today.