Chelsea have emerged as a potential buyer for Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho after Bayern Munich display unwillingness to pay his buy-out clause.
Barcelona’s Brazilian loanee was tipped to be staying with his Bundesliga club after his hattrick a few weeks ago but has failed to live up to their expectations in recent endeavors. The Bavarian side are now unwilling to pay Coutinho’s €120 million buy-out clause unless the former Liverpool player improves, while Premier League’s Chelsea are planning to prepare a bid.
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The former Barca midfielder has been struggling with his Bundesliga side while delivering inconsistent performances. He managed to score 7 goals in 23 appearances, but 3 of those came during the same match against Werder Bremen in Bundesliga.
German outlet Bild have now reported that Bayern Munich are not happy with the player’s performances and are also not too keen on signing him permanently.
Blaugrana were hoping to sell the 27-year-old in order to not only settle their books but also resign Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain. This is despite the fact that the newly appointed Quique Setien displayed his willingness to welcome the Brazilian back to the Camp Nou.
Barca’s high asking price and Coutinho’s unreliability has caused even further problems for the Brazilian’s sale as many talented midfielders are available in the market for a similar price, such as the in-demand Kai Havertz.
Mundo Deportivo via The Sun reports that Frank Lampard’s Chelsea might pounce if Bayern does not sign the Brazilian permanently as they are yet to replace their departed Eden Hazard. The Blues have admired the Brazilain for quite some time now and had missed out on the midfielder due to their transfer ban.
The transfer fee is said to be set at €100 million despite it proving to be a loss for the Catalan giants after paying €170 million to Liverpool in January 2018.
Would you want Philippe Coutinho to return to the Nou Camp?