Coutinho edging close to Arsenal but Barcelona must do this to seal the deal

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With Arsenal expected to shortly seal a deal for Chelsea’s Brazilian attacker, Willian, the Gunners can then concentrate on trying to bring his countryman, Philippe Coutinho, to the Emirates Stadium.

Coutinho allegedly has no future at Barcelona and his agent, Kia Joorabchian, coincidentally also Willian’s representative, appears to have been trying to broker a deal with the North London giants for a while now.

Clearly, someone with Coutinho’s pedigree would enhance what Mikel Arteta already has in situ, but in order for the move to happen, the Gunners manager needs a favour from the Catalan club.

According to The Telegraph (subscription required) and cited by the Daily Express, Barca must pay a portion of the Brazilian’s wages to conclude what’s expected to be a season-long loan deal.

Barcelona appear to be drowning in a sea of debt, unable to rid themselves of players on high wages who, one would expect for that reason alone, are unwilling to move on.

Given that they would have to pay all of Coutinho’s wages in the event of a move not happening, it would be in Barca’s best interests to get this one over the line.

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