According to the Sun via Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, Premier League sides Chelsea, Manchester United and Leicester have all contacted Philippe Coutinho’s agent ahead of a summer move.
Mundo Deportivo (MD) also add that Newcastle, who are close to being taken over by a consortium led by mega-rich Saudi Arabians, have registered an unofficial interest in the attacking midfielder.
The Sun report that Barcelona are hoping to net up to £71m for the Brazilian, who has faced massive struggles since joining the Catalan outfit.
Coutinho’s marquee move to Barcelona has been a nightmare rather than a dream. As per BBC Sport, the deal to take the ace to Spain in January 2018 was worth up to a staggering £142m.
The Sun add that Coutinho favours a move to Chelsea, however he may be interested by a reunion with his former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers at Leicester.
The latest update on Coutinho is quite surprising considering that the playmaker’s agent told TalkSPORT last week that there had been no contact with any clubs ‘whatsoever’.
We’d expect that Coutinho would also have to take a fairly considerable wage cut regardless of which team he joins next as per The Athletic (subscription required) the attacker earns £225,000-a-week (after tax) with Barcelona.
Coutinho’s loan was Bayern has been fairly mixed, whilst his contribution of nine goals and eight assists seems solid – the attacker has only started 22 of his 32 outings across all competitions.