Former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho's move to Barcelona has not gone as planned for either the club or player with the Spanish giants struggling under the financial weight of the transfer.
Coutinho's move has gone so badly that the Brazilian found himself up against Barcelona in last season's Champions League semi-finals representing his then loan club Bayern Munich.
The bizarreness of Barcelona's decision to loan out the attacking-midfielder was exacerbated when Coutinho scored twice for the Germans as part of a shock 8-2 thrashing in Bayern's favour. Coutinho and Bayern went onto be crowned European Champions for the fifth time defeating Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the final.
Coutinho has since returned to Barcelona but is no longer wanted by Ronald Koeman at the Camp Nou and the Catalan giants have revealed the transfer fee they will accept in order to move him on.
Having agreed to pay Liverpool a total of £142 million for Coutinho in January 2018, just three years on Barcelona are prepared to accept a £100m loss on the player and will allow him to leave for £35m this summer. A fee that could alert the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal to renew their prior interest in the player.
Spanish publication Sport revealed that Barcelona are desperate to see Coutinho exit the club and if a £35m offer comes in they will snap the bidder's hands-off in order to facilitate the Brazilians exit from the club as quickly as possible.
Coutinho is currently sidelined with injury and has been since the end of December 2020, prior to that he featured in 14 La Liga and Champions League matches scoring three and assisting two goals in the process.
Speaking in November Coutinho did not rule out the possibility of playing in England again one day.
"The Premier League is one of the most exciting leagues in the world and to have the chance to play there with a team like Liverpool will always be something I will feel grateful for," Coutinho told World Soccer.
"It is impossible to say what might or might not happen in the future - but what I know is that right now my only focus is on being successful with Barcelona."
With success for Coutinho at Barcelona seeming very unlikely a move to the Premier League and possibly Chelsea or Arsenal, both of whom have registered an interest in the player in the past, could be on the cards as early as this summer.
