It was confirmed yesterday that Liverpool had agreed a £142million fee for Coutinho to leave for Barcelona and he is expected to be in attendance for his new club’s match against Levante later today.
Barcelona have sounded out a move for Coutinho since the summer when Liverpool insisted the Brazilian wasn’t for sale.
There was a glimmer of hope from Merseyside that Coutinho would hold out until the end of the season to push through a move but Barcelona’s offer proved too good to turn down.
He will be sorely missed on Merseyside having grown from an £8m signing from Inter Milan four years ago into one of the world’s best attacking midfielders.
But with £102m available to spend in replacement immediately and a further £40m in add-ons, Liverpool have plenty of cash to bring in reinforcements.
Riyad Mahrez has been mooted as a potential signing while Liverpool have also once again been linked with Thomas Lemar.
And Fowler believes that is exactly the calibre of player his former side should be looking to sign.
“As much as he is a great player – and Liverpool have had many down the years – they do come and go,” Fowler told the Sunday Mirror.
“No one is bigger than the club. The club will still be there the next day. The fans will still be there.
“But also supporters are not stupid. They can see when a player doesn’t want to stay. It doesn’t stop them supporting the club when he does eventually leave.
“It’s happened for years and years and will continue to happen. More often than not players have their way because football is more and more weighted towards them. But, to be fair to Liverpool, they resisted over Coutinho in the summer.
“If a player really wants to leave, eight times out of 10 he will.
“Supporters want to see the best possible side and Coutinho falls into that category. I would have loved him to stay, but, if not, then you have to go out and sign the best possible replacement.
“I see that Riyad Mahrez has had a mention – that’s the standard Liverpool should be considering.”
