Five Premier League clubs are considering signing Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona this month.
The well-documented financial problems at Barca ensure that the club are keen to offload the playmaker from their wage bill this month.
The Catalan giants confirmed signing of Ferran Torres from Manchester City this month but are not yet able to register him due to operating above their wage limits.
Coutinho – one of the highest earners at the Camp Nou – is viewed as a prime candidate by the club to be moved on.
The Brazil international has fallen out of favour at the club, who have been actively trying to sell him for the past two years but have been unable to find a market nor a club able to fund his wages.
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Coutinho joined Barca from Liverpool in January 2018 for a transfer fee rising up to £142million – a deal which remains a record for an English club to this day.
The player’s representatives are now desperate to organise a transfer for Coutinho this month as he aims to find regular playing time ahead of the World Cup later this year.
The playmaker fears that he may miss the cut for Brazil’s squad if he remains in Catalonia without regular playing time.
Arsenal are claimed to be frontrunners for Coutinho’s signature but they have set conditions for any potential deal that may scupper any agreement.
As outlined by Diario Sport, the North London club will not countenance including a compulsory purchase option on any loan deal for Coutinho – while any deal would see Arsenal not shell out for the player’s wage in full.
That could be worked around by Coutinho accepting a wage cut in order to play football or by Barcelona picking up a part of the tab.
Cadena Ser radio station have added that Newcastle United – unsurprisingly, following their Saudi Arabian-backed takeover – have also expressed an interest in the player.
There are three other Premier League clubs who have also been approached by the player’s representatives, who are keen to facilitate a transfer this month.
Everton, Leicester and Tottenham have all been contacted, with each of those clubs previously expressing an interest in the player.
For his part, Coutinho is open on either a return to the Premier League or to Italy – where he played for Inter prior to his 2013 switch to Anfield.
Coutinho spent the 2019-20 campaign on loan at Bayern Munich, whom he helped to that season’s treble – including netting twice as a substitute in an 8-2 humiliation of parent club Barcelona in the quarter finals of the Champions League.
He struggled to replicate that form last season at Barca as he struggled with injuries and fell from prominence under successive managers Ronald Koeman and Xavi Hernandez.
