"When I signed for Liverpool, I became the first £10,000-a-week player in the country and the newspaper headlines were 'Football's gone mad'. But now some of the players are earning £300,000 and £400,000 a week."
On a flying trip to Singapore, John Barnes talks at machine-gun speed, and still with a hint of an accent that betrays his Jamaican roots. It is 30 years since he became English football's highest-paid player, and he's jetted in from Hong Kong after watching Liverpool in the Premier League Asia Trophy.
![Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho has attracted interest from Barcelona.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170730082323im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/b/o/v/p/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxkbh9.png/1501152845619.jpg)
The astronomical sums being thrown about this summer could see Liverpool's talisman Philippe Coutinho move to Barcelona for a reported £89 million, with the Brazilian international said to have agreed personal terms with the Spanish club.
Barnes was working as a TV commentator in Hong Kong when Coutinho grabbed the winner in Liverpool's 2-1 Asia Trophy victory over Leicester City last Saturday.
![Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170730082323im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/0/p/9/0/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxkbh9.png/1501152845619.jpg)
"You could tell by the way he reacted after he scored, with no celebration or anything, that something isn't quite right with Philippe at Liverpool," Barnes told ESPN FC.
"It would be great if Liverpool keep him, but if he goes, I wish him all the best. Jurgen Klopp still has a good squad, so he will maximise the potential of the squad without Coutinho. We'd like him to stay, but if he goes Klopp will still find a way of being competitive."
Liverpool have signed former Chelsea winger Mo Salah, and remain linked to Virgil van Dijk, of Southampton, and RB Leipzig's Naby Keita.
So far, Barnes is satisfied with Liverpool's summer transfer activity, and predicts that the Reds will be competitive in their return to the UEFA Champions League, after a three-year absence, thanks to their popular German manager.
![John Barnes playing for Liverpool in 1992.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170730082323im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/k/b/k/x/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gxkbh9.png/1501152845619.jpg)
"The Klopp factor is incredible at Liverpool because the fans support him, no matter what he does, no matter who he signs," Barnes said.
"If Salah went to another Premier League club, the fans may be disappointed because 'we've signed a Chelsea reject'. But because Klopp has signed him, the fans love him. And if the fans love you, you can perform, which he has done in his first three games. So he'll have a big impact on Liverpool.
"If he can get Van Dijk or Keita, all well and good. But we're not hanging our hat on the fact that we need more signings. If they come, it's positive. If they don't come, in Klopp we trust."
His own move to Liverpool from Watford before the 1987-88 season came during a period when the Reds dominated English football and easily attracted the most gifted attacking players in Britain. Peter Beardsley, John Aldridge and Ray Houghton all joined that year under Kenny Dalglish as they won their fifth English title in seven seasons.
Barnes scored 15 league goals, and was voted PFA Players' Player of the year, but Liverpool surprisingly lost the 1988 FA Cup final to Wimbledon. That was despite the success of their Cup final song, the Anfield Rap, which went to number three on the British charts. It was written by his Australian teammate Craig Johnston, with Barnes adding a Caribbean-flavour on lead vocals.
For Barnes, his Jamaica connection remains strong. He coached the national team for a year in 2008-09, and reveals that he actually travelled on a Jamaican passport during his early years with England teams.
"I used to have to go into a different line at immigration when we'd arrive home from trips with England," he said. "Then, one day, a British passport arrived in the mail. But I don't remember applying for it."
Barnes was only the second black player at Liverpool after winger Howard Gayle, and the first to be a regular starter.
With today's wonderfully multi-cultural Premier League, he says English football has greatly evolved from his early days when he would often receive racial abuse from opposing fans.
"Today, from a playing perspective, colour doesn't exist in football... you're there on merit," he said. "If you have the ability, regardless of your colour, creed -- you're there.
"We have a way to go if you look at the statistics in terms of black managers, but from a playing perspective on the field, we've come a long way."
Barnes would love another crack at management, but in the meantime, he remains in high demand in the world of media. The fact that his career lasted until 1999 – his last club was Charlton Athletic – means that he overlapped with the likes of Steven Gerrard, John Terry and Frank Lampard – and he stays connected by working as a part-time ambassador for Liverpool.
Turning 54 in November, and now with two grandchildren, Barnes admits that he does feel old when he looks back on a journey that began when his family emigrated to England when he was 12 years old.
"When you grow up as a young boy loving football, and you get the chance to go to Liverpool, it's a dream come true. The world of football just keeps growing and growing. It's been an incredible journey."
Former Sydney Morning Herald journalist Jason Dasey is Singapore-based Senior Editor of global football website www.espnfc.com.
Twitter: @JasonDasey