Could Barcelona miss out on the Philippe Coutinho transfer?
Reports from France suggest a fresh twist in the Philippe Coutinho transfer saga that won’t exactly be great news for Liverpool or Barcelona.
According to Telefoot, Paris Saint-Germain have opened talks over a deal for the Brazil international, following a recent snap of super-agent Kia Joorabchian with PSG sporting director Antero Henrique.
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The pair met in London last week and Telefoot claim a move for PSG to pip Barca to the Coutinho transfer was one of the three items on their agenda.
This would be quite a shock after such lengthy speculation linking the 25-year-old with a move to the Nou Camp, whilst showing PSG’s incredibly risky spending approach considering recent reports of their investigation by UEFA.
The Guardian reported last month that the European football governing body would be looking at PSG’s transfer activity after possibly breaching Financial Fair Play regulations after a summer of such heavy spending on Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Coutinho would likely be another expensive purchase, with the Daily Mirror claiming yesterday that Liverpool expected to bring in around £130million for his signature if he were to leave this January.
Still, PSG will likely have the option of selling a number of their current players, with attacking midfielders like Angel Di Maria and Julian Draxler unlikely to remain regulars in the side anyway if the Coutinho transfer were to go through.
The Daily Star recently reported that Draxler could even be a target for Liverpool to fill that void in attack, so PSG could in theory use the German as a way to get the Coutinho transfer fee down.
Barcelona, meanwhile, may have other options up their sleeve, with Don Balon recently claiming Lionel Messi was keen on them to move for Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil as a cheap alternative to Coutinho.