Philippe Coutinho set for Barcelona stay after agent rules out a Premier League return

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Philippe Coutinho’s agent Kia Joorabchian has ruled out a Premier League return for the Brazilian ace after he claimed the attacker will stay with Barcelona despite interest from Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City.

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Coutinho, 27, joined Barcelona from Liverpool in 2018 in a move which cost the Catalonian side £130.5m as per TransferMarkt.

The Brazilian attacker’s Barcelona career failed to get started resulting him to falling out-of-favour with the Spanish giants and eventually lead to him spending last season on-loan with German title holders Bayern Munich.

Speaking to TalkSPORT earlier today, Coutinho’s agent Kia Joorabchian claims that the elite forward will not be returning to the Premier League and will instead stay in Spain next season as he looks to fight for his place under new Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman.

When asked if his client will be a Barcelona player next season, Joorabchian said: “Yeah. Koeman called him right after the Champions League victory with Bayern, the following day, and told him he’s very much in his plans and would like him to return.

“He was due to return on September 7 but actually he returned at the beginning of September because he didn’t want to lose his momentum and fitness, and he’s been training with Barcelona.

“All signs point to the fact Barcelona have changed quite dramatically, the way their philosophy of how they wanted to move forward from last year and the players they’ve brought in, like Coutinho, Dembele and Griezmann they’re all going to be part of the squad this year.”



Speaking of Coutinho’s contributions for Bayern Munich in last season’s Champions League which helped knock parent side Barcelona out at the quarter-final stage, Joorabchian said: “Well, you’ve got to do your job and he did his job perfectly, and it’s probably the reason why Barcelona want him back so badly.”

Joorabchian went onto confirm that Coutinho is fully fit and ready to start Barcelona’s La Liga campaign when their first domestic tie against Villarreal takes place on September 27.

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