Selling Philippe Coutinho has become a priority for Barcelona.
One of the biggest headaches facing Barcelona as they prepare for the restart and the end of the season is what they are going to do with Philippe Coutinho.
Bayern Munich are not going to exercise their option and his loan there is going to come to an end. To make matters worse, the Brazilian is injured and likely to be out for the rest of the season.
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With certain signings now at the top of the agenda, Barcelona know that they need to sell certain players, like Coutinho, both to free up space on their roster and to raise cash for said signings.
The trouble at the moment is finding clubs that would be willing to meet the valuation the club have set for the former Liverpool star.
According to Sport, Tottenham, who are one of the clubs interested, would consider a player swap for Coutinho and one would be a player who the Catalans already had their eye on.
That player is midfielder Tanguy Ndombele with the other being defender Toby Alderweireld.
Ndombele has not had a good run of things since he joined Spurs and has become the center of attention for Jose Mourinho which is never a good thing.
While the Catalans may be intrigued by the prospect of potentially getting Ndombele, the same might not be said with regards to Alderweireld. He’s 31-years-old and while he can play both center-back and right-back, his age could play against him. Some of the defenders they’ve been linked with are all younger with a look ahead towards the future.
Coutinho would only accept a move back to the Premier League.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are set to meet with Coutinho’s agent, Kia Joorabchian, to discuss his client’s future and whether or not there are any concrete offers worth exploring.
What has been made concrete is that Coutinho has his mind set on a return to the Premier League.
Apart from Tottenham, Chelsea have also shown their interest in him and they themselves were considering a swap deal. It’s the way the market is tilting for Barcelona and something they are going to have to accept.
They’ve already accepted that they’re going to take a significant loss on a potential sale. At the moment, they are asking somewhere between €80-€90 million but are uncertain they can even get that much after his unsuccessful stint at Bayern Munich.
Premier League sides do have the money but Barcelona find themselves without the upper hand. Clubs know they are getting desperate and they may have to reluctantly accept a lower fee and a player if they want to get Coutinho off their books.