Man City boss Pep Guardiola reportedly turned down the chance to sign Philippe Coutinho this summer after being offered the Barcelona star.
The Brazilian international eventually went on to secure a season-long loan deal to join Bayern Munich with an option to buy for £110m next summer, as per talkSPORT, but it’s also reported that the former Liverpool ace could have gone back to England.
SEE MORE: Man City could be alerted as target drops possible Champions League hint
According to Marca, Man City and Guardiola were given the opportunity to land Coutinho by the Catalan giants, but the Spanish tactician rejected the move as he wasn’t interested in taking him to the Etihad.
Given the wealth of options and the quality of the players at his disposal in that department, it’s no real surprise that Guardiola did turn down the move but Coutinho is a world-class player in his own right and so it would surely have been a difficult decision.
Nevertheless, City will have to be content with the players in the current squad and Coutinho will now be focused on making his time in Bavaria a success as they have opted for different paths.
It would surely have been a blow for Liverpool and their fans too though to see him join their direct Premier League title rivals, as despite his struggles at Barcelona, it may well be a relief to those on Merseyside that Guardiola didn’t decide to snap the 27-year-old up when he had the chance.
