The news that Barcelona are likely to be unable to afford to keep one of their players should have piqued the interest of the four Premier League clubs that have allegedly been monitoring developments.
Philippe Coutinho hasn’t appeared to have had the best time on loan at Bayern Munich, although current Barca manager, Quique Setien, told RAC1, cited by the Independent, that he would welcome the Brazilian back to the Camp Nou.
However, MARCA note the true cost of keeping hold of the player, and a potential £50m outlay for 2020/21 would appear to be beyond Barcelona’s means.
That figure is made up by Coutinho’s €30m per year salary, as well as another €20m payment due to Liverpool if the attacking midfielder plays 100 games for the Catalans. Given he’s currently on 76, he would be highly likely to achieve the century during the course of the next campaign.
To that end, and given the financial woes that many clubs appear to be under at present, a loan option back to the Premier League seems the most likely scenario, and that could spark a war between Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, whom the Daily Mail note are interested in acquiring Coutinho’s services.
Mundo Deportivo say Newcastle will enter the race to make the Brazilian one of the first signings of the new regime too, after potential new managerial incumbent, Mauricio Pochettinho, put in an advance request for the man who played under him at Espanyol.