Bayern Munich decline option on Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho

Barcelona now must make a decision with regards to their star midfielder.

Bayern Munich have officially declined their option on Philippe Coutinho meaning that the player will be back with Barcelona at the start of next season.

It’s not the news the Catalans had hoped for but one that they knew was coming for a while. His return adds a wrench to their own offseason plans.

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"“The option expired and he haven’t activated it,” said Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. “Now we must do our own internal planning for the upcoming season.”Source: Sport"

Coutinho arrived to the club with much fanfare when he was first loaned out. With the losses of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, the Brazilian was seen as a possible successor and that they got him on loan was a plus.

For Coutinho, the move was a way for him to get his game back on track after struggling for a season-and-a-half with Barcelona. Unfortunately for all parties involved, it hasn’t worked out how they expected.

He’s been in and out of the Bayern side and picked up an injury that required surgery that will more than likely keep him out for the remainder of the season.

With Barcelona needing to raise cash through player transfers to finance other moves, needing to find a team for Coutinho is going to be tough. Especially in an uncertain market thanks to the pandemic.

No team is going to spend the €100 million that they’re looking for. However, it’s not all bad news.

Finding him a team is going to be difficult but there do appear more suitors than previously thought.

According to Mundo Deportivo, a trio of Premier League teams are rumored to be interested. Manchester United, Leicester City, and Chelsea are all in for him with the first two having already made contact with his agent.

Out of those three teams, Coutinho’s preferred choice would be Chelsea. He may not want a move to Manchester United because of his Liverpool past and may not entirely be convinced, sporting wise, on Leicester.

Newcastle United had also been rumored with a move but there are too many dominoes that need to fall for that to happen. The new owners would have to come in and hire Mauricio Pochettino who reportedly would want Coutinho on the team.

Despite some words by Quique Setién that he wouldn’t mind having Coutinho back, the fact of the matter is there isn’t any space for him as Barcelona have an overabundance of attackers. Plus, he’s one of the few players who still has a market that they could exploit even if they do wind up getting less than what they were looking for.

While Coutinho will indeed be back at Barcelona come next season, expect his stay to be brief with all signs pointing to a return to England.