Manchester United have been dealt a big blow in their pursuit of Barcelona and Brazil star Philippe Coutinho, after the midfielder ruled out a return to England.
Coutinho has been struggling at Barcelona this season, with the Brazilian’s patchy form seeing him left out of the club’s starting XI a number of times already.
United have been linked with a move for Coutinho, with Don Balon even reporting that the Red Devils have sent an official to Barcelona in order to seal a €90M (£77.5m) move for the former Liverpool man.
However, it looks like this attempt at signing Coutinho will fall flat on its face if these words from the player himself are anything to go off.
As per the Liverpool Echo, when speaking about his time at Barca, Coutinho noted “I’m happy. I wanted to play in Spain and I’m at the best club in Spain. My head is exclusively in Barcelona. Returning to England now does not fit into my plans.”
Coutinho’s has been very out-of-form for the Blaugrana this year, scoring just 10 times in 44 appearances for the Spanish giants, a total that is the same amount he managed last year in just 22 games.
The Brazilian has been replaced in Barca’s starting XI by Ousmane Dembele for a large part of this season, and it remains to be seen as to whether the player will be able to turn his Blaugrana career around.
However, if his words are anything to go off, it seems like Coutinho is enjoying life at the Camp Nou, and is determined to turn his fortunes in Spain around, a factor that won’t be good news for United fans.