Chelsea will look to make a move for Philippe Coutinho in the summer of they miss out on Jadon Sancho – as per reports.
Jadon Sancho has been on the transfer radar of Chelsea for a couple of months now but as things stand the youngster is more likely to join Manchester United at the end of the season rather than Chelsea.
But instead of waiting for this to happen, the Blues have already identified Philippe Coutinho as the next best option should Sancho snub them.
Philippe Coutinho is currently out on loan to Bayern Munich from Barcelona but the German are not planning to sign him permanently meaning the Brazilian will return back to the La Liga in the summer.
Barca though have no intentions of keeping hold of the player and there’s a huge buzz that Philippe Coutinho will be moving back to the Premier League at the end of the season.
Ever since his move to Spain, the stacking midfielder has been a major flop but when was in England, the Brazilian was without a doubt one of the best players in Europe.
And Chelsea will be hoping that Philippe Coutinho can hit that same vein of form if they manage to sign him during the summer.
Some reports claim that the Blues are not too eager to sign the attacking midfielder permanently since Barcelona will not let him move out for a cheap transfer fee which is why Lampard wants to sign him on a loan deal with a possible buying clause.
While Chelsea will love to get their hands on Jadon Sancho but right now the Dortmund man looks all set to join Manchester United in the summer.
During the 2019-20 season, Coutinho has scored eight goals and made six assists in 22 Bundesliga games for Bayern Munich which clearly indicates that he will not be the perfect replacement for Jadon Sancho.
But if the London outfit can get him on a loan deal then without a doubt the 27-year-old will be a great asset to have.
Update: Chelsea open talks with Philippe Coutinho
It seems like Chelsea have already given up hopes on signing Sancho which is why the latest reports claim that the club have opened talks with the agent of Coutinho over a possible move in the summer.
Coutinho’s agent Kia Joorabchian has a good relationship with the Chelsea management which is why the Blues are confident that they can get their hands on the Brazilian.
But the reports are also claiming that this will not be a loan deal since Barcelona are willing to let Coutinho leave for a fee of just €60 million which is something Chelsea will not hesitate to pay.
UPDATE(8th April 2020):
It’s being reported that Chelsea are pretty close to signing Philippe Coutinho from FC Barcelona but they are not ready to pay the huge transfer fee that meaning a loan deal looks the most achievable outcome right now.
In this loan deal, Chelsea will likely be paying Coutinho’s salary of £11.5 million and the loan deal will have an option to buy at the end of the term.
But as per the report, Barcelona are adamant to offload the Brazilian and hence want a mandatory buying clause inserted in the contract.
It still remains to be seen how Chelsea will react to his whole scenario but the last thing they would want to do is waste unnecessary money on a player who has turned out to be a major flop ever since his move out of the Premier League.
