Philippe Coutinho is exactly the player Bayern needs

Bayern Munich have officially acquired Philippe Coutinho in a loan deal from FC Barcelona, and the attacking midfielder is exactly the player Die Roten need in order to defend the Bundesliga championship this season.

Although Bayern Munich’s summer transfer window once seemed like a fruitless endeavor after they were forced to settle on a loan deal for veteran backup Ivan Perisic instead of signing Manchester City stud Leroy Sane, they might end up significantly strengthening their squad before the September deadline hits.

According to BILD’s Christian Falk, a spokesman from Barcelona confirmed that Philippe Coutinho has completed a loan move to Bayern. This news comes after increasingly strong links between Coutinho and Bayern were established in the media.

Barcelona have long been interested in unloading Coutinho’s salary despite once paying 142 million euros for the former Liverpool star. Though they tried to send Coutinho to PSG in a player-swap deal for Neymar, PSG wanted cash. Meanwhile, Liverpool weren’t interested in significantly shaking up the squad for a reunion, and Coutinho didn’t want to burn the Reds fanbase by moving to England to a rival team.

That ended up leaving Bayern as the most logical landing spot for Coutinho, and because Barcelona want Neymar to rejoin Lionel Messi and work with new signing Antoine Griezmann, that made them more than willing to send Coutinho away.

Bayern should be beyond ecstatic to have a player like Coutinho without having to pay significantly, and there are indications that this could be a similar deal to the one Bayern signed with Real Madrid for attacking midfielder James Rodriguez two years ago. That means Coutinho would be affordable for Bayern, and they could easily opt not to sign him if they’d prefer to spend the money on keeping a veteran player. Or, if Coutinho blossoms, they could keep one of the world’s best playmakers for a few more years.

Coutinho isn’t a player who can take over games on his own, but Bayern already have stars who can dominate on the ball like Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman and Thiago. What they’re missing is a No. 10 who can finish moves, score goals from nowhere and provide quality dribbling skills in tight spaces. In short, they need someone with more talent and consistency than Thomas Muller, who showed last season that he is no longer a starting-caliber player.

Judging by Bayern’s performance against Hertha Berlin in their opening Bundesliga match, they need Coutinho’s quality more than ever. Bayern were lucky to escape with a 2-2 draw at home, needing Robert Lewandowski to supply both finishes to secure a meager point against a mid-table side. Nobody else on the team looked capable of providing the finishing touch, with Gnabry being the only attacker feeding killer passes to others.

At his best when starring for Liverpool, Coutinho was frequently called a “magician.” His shooting range was even better than former Bayern standout James’, and he had a combined 20 goals and 13 assists in his final two full seasons with the Reds. Coutinho isn’t quite the passer that James is, but he’s quicker, better on the ball and maybe even more capable of scoring goals.

Bayern needed to sign someone truly dynamic centrally, because that’s where they have struggled to create chances in an attacking sense. Lewandowski has great link-up play with winger Gnabry, and Coman has done a great job of creating chances as a tireless worker from the left wing. But Lewandowski has been burdened by a lack of creativity and service from the middle, and Coutinho could help open things up for the wingers even further.

Critically, Coutinho will need to show that he can create for others. But in those final two full seasons at Liverpool, Coutinho averaged over 2.5 key passes per game, per WhoScored.com. Even at this year’s Copa America for Brazil, Coutinho showed that game-changing quality as an attacking midfielder with 2.2 key passes per game.

The bangers from outside the box will be great and will give Bayern another dangerous layer in an attack that has lacked bite in Niko Kovac’s tenure as manager. But Coutinho’s crafty dribbling and short-range passing as a No. 10 will be even more vital to Bayern’s success in an increasingly competitive Bundesliga due to further improvements from Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig.

On paper, Coutinho looks like the missing piece to the puzzle and the world-class playmaker who can help Bayern solidify its status as the best team in the Bundesliga. His skills and individual quality are difficult to question, but, of course, he must prove to Bayern and fans around Europe that his recent mediocrity at Barcelona was merely an issue of scenery and not talent. Based on his work at Brazil in the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Copa America, chances are that Bayern just acquired one of the best players on their squad, essentially for free.