Barcelona's Demands for Philippe Coutinho Revealed Amid Premier League Interest

Barcelona are said to be demanding an eye-watering €100m for Philippe Coutinho this summer, which explains why nobody actually wants to sign him.

Bayern Munich have declined to make Coutinho's loan move permanent this summer, so he is expected to be on the move once again as Barcelona are frantically looking to raise funds.

However, it doesn't look like that money will be coming in by selling Coutinho as ESPN state that Barcelona are still demanding 'more than half' of the £142m which they spent to lure the Brazilian to Camp Nou in 2018.

Mundo Deportivo (via Sport Witness) specify that the fee is closer to €100m (around £90m) but, in what could be the least surprising revelation of all time, nobody actually wants to pay that. Mental. It's like teams don't enjoy overpaying for players who have been nothing but average for the last three years.

Barcelona would be happy to send Coutinho out on loan again, but there are still some obstacles to overcome. La Blaugrana want an up-front fee of around £10m and they want the buying club to pay all of Coutinho's £250,000-a-week wages. Yikes.

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, who have both been offered the chance to sign Coutinho this summer, have baulked at the finances involved and will not be pursuing a deal. What a surprise.

Having said that, Mundo Deportivo believe that Arsenal's proposal for Coutinho has started 'taking shape' in the last few days, but there is no chance the Gunners will offer up the kind of money Barcelona are looking for.

Leicester City are said to be ready to make a 'strong investment' to sign Coutinho this summer, but there doesn't really appear to be any substance to those claims. Sure, former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is in charge at the King Power Stadium, but that's about it.

Finally, as with any report about Coutinho, Chelsea get a shout-out of their own. The Blues are said to be in the best position to accept Barcelona's demands for the 27-year-old, but the problem is that they don't actually want him.

Finding a team willing to meet their asking price would have been tough even if the world hadn't been immobilised because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Barcelona's chances of selling for that kind of money now seem to be slim at best.


For more from ​Tom Gott, follow him on ​Twitter!


Source : 90min