The summer transfer window is only 10 days away from opening, and though it won’t close until October, any business for the bigger names that are available is surely likely to be swiftly concluded.
Mikel Arteta is looking to shape his Arsenal side in his own image, and any players that will be considered by him have to be hard-working as a pre-requisite and offer a mixture of grit, determination and flair.
To that end, the Gunners look likely to be signing Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona this summer, with the Catalans desperate to offload the Brazilian.
According to Sport, Kia Joorabchian is negotiating with the North London outfit for them to take Coutinho and Real Sociedad’s Willian Jose.
In both cases, the deals are likely to be season-long loans as it seems that the Premier League club don’t have much by the way of available funds to spare.
Coutinho doesn’t appear to have any sort of future at Barcelona and after generally disappointing whilst on loan at Bayern Munich, he really needs to be given the opportunity to resurrect his career elsewhere.
In a league he knows well, Arsenal could be bagging themselves a bargain.
Coutinho has the skills to unlock even the most dogged of defences, and alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang he could play a role similar to that which Mesut Ozil has done with aplomb for the last few seasons.