Barcelona ace Philippe Coutinho’s agent Kia Joorabchian has stated that the Brazilian midfielder ‘has a desire to come back to the Premier League’, according to a report in Sky Sports.
Coutinho has struggled with a significant dip in form since leaving Liverpool for Barcelona and the player has spent this season on loan at Bayern Munich.
MORE: Agent gives Arsenal major hope of clinching transfer of Premier League star
However, the Brazil international has also struggled to make much of an impact in his time at the Allianz Arena, and Barcelona are now looking for €80million to offload the player permanently, according to the Evening Standard.
His agent Kia Joorabchian has since spoken about any impending move for the Brazilian this summer, and his quotes could be seen as good news for Arsenal, who are said to have made him a priority target for next season, according to ABC.
It’s clear that if the 27-year-old can get back to his best he’d be a big upgrade on the struggling Mesut Ozil for Arsenal, while he could also undoubtedly strengthen Chelsea, who have been tipped by Sport to step up their pursuit of the player.
The Blues are yet to really replace Eden Hazard as they were under a transfer ban when he left last summer, and an in-form Coutinho would offer something similar to Frank Lampard’s side.
Chelsea boss Lampard has, however, been advised to avoid the risky signing of Coutinho by club legend Alan Hudson, who recently told CaughtOffside why he thinks Lampard “will give him a wide berth”.
“The motives behind Project Restart are possibly 100% financially driven rather than integrity driven.” – Which Premier League star said this? Click here to read more.
Both these clubs could be encouraged by Joorabchian admitting that Coutinho wants to return to the Premier League.
“He has a desire to come back to the Premier League at some point,” Joorabchian told Sky Sports.
“It may not happen this year, it may happen this year – we don’t know. We really have not discussed anything for now.”