Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho continues to draw interest from Premier League sides.
There seem to be mixed messages coming out of Barcelona with regard to Philippe Coutinho’s future. One day he’s all but out of the club and the next manager Quique Setién seems to be tossing him a lifeline.
His stint at Bayern Munich has not gone as everyone would have hoped and the only interest in the Brazilian so far has been from the Premier League. Chelsea, Tottenham and even Everton have emerged as possible destinations.
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Add another team to the list as according to Sport, Newcastle United are also said to be interested in acquiring Coutinho.
The report claims that the new ownership want to make Coutinho their first big signing as a signal of intent.
With Mohamed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, taking over, there will undoubtedly also be a sudden influx of cash. Just take a look at what happened at PSG and Manchester City when they were taken over.
Barcelona are listening to offers and are willing to take a potential loss. They know Coutinho did not live up to expectations at Barcelona or at Bayern. His value has fallen and they’re quite aware of that.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle in a potential deal is convincing Coutinho that sporting wise, heading to Newcastle would be the best move for his career.
With all due respect to Newcastle, they are not exactly the flashiest club to sign for. They’ve been flirting with relegation all season and have been a bit of a yo-yo club the last decade or so. Also, it’s going to take something drastic to overtake the likes of City and Liverpool and there are a number of teams ahead of Newcastle in that pecking order.
But if they decide that Coutinho is the player they want as the face of the new direction the club is going, it could potentially play in favor of Barcelona. While they are prepared to take a loss, they may be likely to get the most out of Newcastle than any of the other interested teams.
Coutinho had been linked with Newcastle in the past alongside Antoine Griezmann. The ambitions of the new owners could play into Barcelona’s hands. If they come in with a good enough offer, the Catalans would be more than happy to strike a deal.