The Barcelona fans expected him to produce weekly miracles. When that did not happen, they booed him. He responded with gestures -- putting his fingers in his ears -- and with words -- appearing to insult the supporters after he scored a goal. The relationship between player and club became impossible to sustain, and he was sent out on loan to Bayern Munich.
Now, the situation has changed. First, Coutinho made a point of not extravagantly celebrating the goals he scored at the end of Bayern's recent 8-2 Champions League quarterfinal rout of Barcelona. His stock with the fans might well have risen. Second, in a new, post-Messi team, Coutinho's place in the pecking order could be very different.
Barca are not going to get their money back for him. They could unload him at a massive loss to some team in the Premier League, or they could decide that he offers their best hope of attacking flair and treat him accordingly.
Buying Coutinho at the start of 2018 seemed like an expensive blunder. Having him in late 2020 might just turn out to be a blessing.
love messi😍😍😍