It’s always bewildering that clubs can feature in the press one week where it appears they have no money to spend, only for a rumour about a big money transfer to spring up shortly after.
It’s hard to tell if Arsenal will spend a lot of money in the transfer market this Summer, they tend to be careful spenders anyway, so the current situation would give them an excuse to cut back even further.
Despite that, a report from Le 10 Sport, as translated by Football Espana, has indicated they are though to be leading the race to sign Philippe Coutinho this Summer.
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The report confirms that Bayern Munich will not be taking up their option to sign him when his loan spell expires, and Barca are said to be looking for offers around €80m.
Football Espana claim that Man United and Chelsea are also thought to be interested, but Arsenal are said to be front of the queue at this point.
He’s had an odd career because he’s highly rated, but he’s only really excelled with Liverpool. He was disappointing with Inter Milan before he arrived at Anfield, while his stints with Barcelona and Bayern didn’t live up to the hype.
If he does cost that much then it’s a huge risk for any team to take, and they will need to hope that it was the Premier League that suited him, and not just Liverpool.
Arsenal did have success in the past when Alexis Sanchez struggled at Barca and he went on to shine at The Emirates, so they will be hoping the Brazilian can have a similar impact.
This could be a blow for United, however, as they also need to strengthen in attack after another difficult season in which they face missing out on the top four, with Coutinho perhaps an ideal upgrade on under-performing stars like Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard.
Chelsea, meanwhile, would surely also do well to sign Coutinho as a replacement for Eden Hazard, who left for Real Madrid last summer while the Blues were under a transfer ban and unable to sign anyone to fill that considerable void in their attack.