Barca are desperate for Coutinho, Coutinho is clearly desperate for the move to happen, my guess is it'll drag on all January but will probably happen at some point during the January. So we should look to bring in his replacement now and fuck the little bastard off. Great player, but like Virgil van Dijk... definitely cunty to do to your employer. If you're going to be a little bastard and try to force a move right after signing a long contract, you should be prepared to let your club to hold your new club ransom.
I think it could get pretty ugly though because I think Coutinho's close to where he may refuse to play for us, but John Henry is believed to be a person who holds grudges against clubs (Firmino's release clause is reported to specifically exclude Arsenal after the Suarez shite) - and I can see him not appreciating Barca's public negotiation tactics. I wouldn't be surprised if he would refuse a move unless it was absolutely outrageous for this market - although it might not be wise because any fee for Coutinho for this market is going to be pretty fucking ridiculous.
If he hadn't come public with this, I could see this going like the Suarez transfer. Where everyone knew he was off, but because he gave us one more year (and it was a great one) he's still held in pretty high regard amongst our fanbase (although I think Suarez is a fucking cunt tbh, despite being immensely talented). But it seemed like Coutinho was winning fans back after this summer... and now I don't think he'll be regarded in the same estimation by our fans. So if he doesn't get the move and does some arrogant shite like fucking off to Brazil and refusing to play a la Tevez and Costa, he'll probably end up absolutely hated.