Despite interest from a series of Premier League clubs, Arsenal are on the verge of signing Philippe Coutinho from FC Barcelona, according to AS Sport.
The report suggests: “There are advanced operations and a lot of expectation with Coutinho, who could land at Arsenal, in a beneficial operation for the Blaugrana club. The idea is to start transferring footballers to enter cash, which will be necessary to deal with signings.
“At Barça, they are absolutely prioritizing the departure of Philippe Coutinho and they believe there is hope for a good operation.
“His agent, Kia Joorabchian, is very close to closing Willian’s signing for Arsenal and Coutinho could be next. The London club loves him and all parties must make an effort to make the transfer possible.
“Decisive days are coming, although everything is beginning to be well underway and Barça does not close the door to other clubs finally entering the bid.”
The Gunners will really make a proper a statement of intent if they can sign someone like Philippe Coutinho despite playing in the Europe League next season but we doubt if Spurs manager Jose Mourinho will give up without a fight.
The Lilywhites are also interested in signing the playmaker and if he is available on a loan deal this summer then Mourinho will surely ask Daniel Levy to try and bring him on board.
So we think it will ultimately depend on Coutinho and which club he wishes to join during the 2020-21 season.
Barcelona will be wanting to offload the Brazilian permanently this transfer window but we are more than certain that no European club will be willing to pay the demanded 80 million pounds right now.