Barcelona have revealed their new £147m signing Philippe Coutinho will be sidelined for around three weeks with a thigh injury.
Coutinho completed his stunning move to the Camp Nou on Monday after undergoing the second part of his medical with the La Liga giants.
The Brazil international missed Liverpool’s last two matches in the build up to becoming the third most expensive player of all-time but it was thought he was feigning injury.
Coutinho complained of a back injury during the summer while Barcelona first pursued the 25-year-old but scan results conducted by Liverpool’s medical staff revealed no issue.
However, on this occasion it turns out Coutinho really was injured and he will have to wait until the end of January at the very earliest before making his Barcelona debut.
“Coutinho has an injury to his right thigh and he is expected to be out for around three weeks,” The Daily Express quote Barcelona as saying.
It means that Coutinho will certainly miss Barcelona’s next three matches but will hope to at least face former side Espanyol at the start of February.
Coutinho enjoyed a stunning first half to the season with Barcelona and Ernesto Valverde will hope he can continue that for form for the La Liga leaders.
In fact, Coutinho is currently the highest WhoScored rated player in the Premier League (8.03).
