Philippe Coutinho has been linked with a move back to the Premier League as Arsenal have shown interest in signing him on loan.
The Gunners have surprisingly been linked with the former Liverpool man who has failed to impress Ernesto Valverde and is on the verge of moving out.
During the start of the summer, it was claimed that he might be heading back to Liverpool but Jurgen Klopp was quick to shut down those rumours saying that his side have no intentions of bringing Philippe Coutinho back.
And during the past couple of weeks, various media outlets have claimed that Unai Emery is keen to bring the Brazilian to the Emirates on a one-year loan deal with an option to buy next summer.
At one point, the deal looked pretty probable but then Unai Emery made it pretty clear that Arsenal have no plans of moving for the playmaker.
He told Cadena SER(as reported by Goal): “We’ve never talked about Coutinho.
“He’s a splendid player, but we haven’t talked about Coutinho at any time.”
And immediately following this statement, there were reports that Philippe Coutinho has no intention of joining Arsenal and his sole focus is stay at Camp Nou and prove his worth to the manager.
So naturally, the deal was dubbed as a failure and Coutinho was all set to stay at Barcelona for one more season.
Now though there seems to be another twist with L’Equipe reporting that Arsenal are seriously considering a loan move for the Brazilian and Barcelona too want to offload him.
“The attacking midfielder from Barcelona should be on loan to the London club,” the report claims.
“Regularly linked to the news of Paris Saint-Germain since the start of this transfer window, Philippe Coutinho (27) will finally return to the Premier League, where he has already played in Liverpool. Under contract with FC Barcelona until June 2023, the Brazilian midfielder should be loaned to Arsenal.”
So it is pretty evident that Arsenal have been harbouring feeling to sign Philippe Coutinho and it seems like Unai Emery is making a last-ditch effort to bring the playmaker on loan.
But right now the biggest concern for the Gunners is to convince Philippe Coutinho to play for a direct rival of Liverpool given that Brazilian still holds the Anfield outfit very dear to his heart.
UPDATE(Tuesday):
Now there seems to be yet another twist to the transfer saga with ESPN claiming that the Gunners were never interested in signing Philippe Coutinho but now Spurs are seemingly keen to bring him on board for the upcoming season.
“Arsenal are not interested in signing Barcelona playmaker Philippe Coutinho this summer but north London rivals Tottenham remain keen, sources have told ESPN FC.
“The Brazil international is out of favour at Camp Nou and reports in Spain and France have linked the Gunners with the former Liverpool player, with some even stating that a deal was close to completion.
UPDATE(Wednesday):
L’Equipe had originally broken the news that Arsenal want to sign Philippe Coutinho on loan and now Sky Sports have quoted the same publication claiming that the Gunners have agreed on terms on a deal to sign the playmaker.
“Arsenal are supposedly the frontrunners to sign Philippe Coutinho on loan from Barcelona this summer. The Gunners have agreed terms over a deal for the Brazilian with the Spanish champions. (L’Equipe)“
If this move happens then it will obviously be a top signing for Arsenal but it has also created a few doubts in the fans mind since Unai Emery will have to sacrifice a forward player in order to accommodate the Brazilian.
