Philippe Coutinho’s career is at something of a crossroads.
Signed by Barcelona to much fanfare in 2018, costing the Spanish club £142 million, it is fair to say that it hasn’t worked out.
He has made 76 appearances for the club, scoring 21 goals and registering 11 assists, but he just doesn’t seem to fit into the way they play.
Coutinho, an attacking midfielder throughout his time at Anfield, played primarily as a left winger at Camp Nou and, such were his performances, he was allowed to leave on loan last summer.
He joined Bayern Munich, where he has spent the entirety of the campaign, playing 35 times, scoring nine goals and registering eight assists.
It does not seem as though the German club want him to stay, though, and Sport Witness carries a report from Sport insisting that he will be leaving.
He doesn’t want to stay, and Barca don’t really want him, meaning that they need to find a suitor this summer.
With Bayern seemingly uninterested, the report claims that Arsenal are well in the race to sign the Brazil international.
And the Gunners are now said to be the “only the possible solution” for Coutinho’s future. He is valued at £50.4 million by Transfermarkt.
A loan move to the Emirates could be on the cards, with Arsenal seeking to bolster Mikel Arteta’s squad; it would lower Barca’s wage bill, meaning that the north London club may have to stump up his salary if they do take him on.
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
This has to be a priority for the Gunners.
They just haven’t been able to bring the best out of Mesut Ozil this season and he did not play at all post-lockdown.
As a result, finding a new playmaker should be top of Arteta’s wishlist and Coutinho certainly fits the bill.
He has plenty of Premier League experience from his time at Liverpool and is a safe pair of hands on the ball; he rarely gives it away and can slice defences apart with his precise passing.
With Barcelona so keen to get rid of him, and him so keen to leave, it feels as though the Gunners will never have a better opportunity to bring him in.
They need to make it happen.