Premier League clubs are once more being linked with Barcelona flop Philippe Coutinho in the event that Bayern Munich decide against making their loan into a permanent transfer.
Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea have all been mentioned in the latest round of gossip as Barça look to sell the player for whom they agreed a deal worth up to €160m in January 2018, all the while incurring as minimal a loss as possible.
Bayern have the option to buy Coutinho for €120m. But if the reigning German champions choose not to, Barça will still be looking to cash in on a player that has no future at Camp Nou.
There is nothing new or particularly substantial in Mundo Deportivo’s latest report on the subject. It is more a case of pointing hopefully at the Premier League if Bayern pull out.
Manchester United and Tottenham are mentioned as clubs that ‘have already shown interest last summer’, even though the likelihood of Coutinho joining either last summer was slim to nil. There is nothing in the report to suggest there is actually any current interest.
A return to former club Liverpool is almost certainly not on the cards now that the Reds have secured the January signing of Japanese winger Takumi Minamino from Red Bull Salzburg.
One club that is more likely to be an option is Chelsea after the transfer ban that FIFA had imposed was lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Manager Frank Lampard even recently expressed hope that the club would sign a creative type in January to replace Eden Hazard.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are confident that even if Bayern do not exercise their right to buy Coutinho, a strong end to the season from the player should still see them recoup at least €100m (£85.5m) of their outlay.
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Source : 90min