There are so many reasons to love football, but one of the most fascinating things is just how quickly the tables can turn for a player and a club.
Over the past couple of seasons Philippe Coutinho has been written off as a flop at Barcelona, while he was in an awkward position at Bayern Munich where they didn’t rate him enough to buy him on a permanent basis.
He must’ve been delighted towards the end of the season where he came on against his parent club in the Champions League and helped add the finishing touches to their humiliating defeat, while the arrival of a new manager will always present new opportunities.
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He’s been heavily linked with Arsenal all summer and The Mirror were the latest to report in their interest, but more recent updates from Spain suggest that Arsenal have little chance of signing him.
Marca have stated that Ronald Koeman wants to give him a chance to prove himself in the first team, but that doesn’t necessarily suggest he won’t eventually leave.
The problem for Arsenal is Barca have made it clear that they will only allow him to leave if a big offer comes in for a permanent transfer, so there’s nothing to suggest that Arsenal have the resources to make that happen.
It would be a great story if he can go back to the Nou Camp and finally live up to expectations, while Koeman will look like a genius if he can get the best out of other big money flops Griezmann and Dembele.
From Arsenal’s point of view it really did look like they had a good chance of signing him earlier this summer, but it’s now time to move on to other targets.