Newcastle United have turned their transfer interest towards Barcelona flop Philippe Coutinho.
The 29-year-old Brazilian has flattered to deceive since his big-money move to Barcelona in January 2018, and the Catalan club would like to get some return on their investment.
And according to journalist Christian Falk, they may be in luck as Newcastle have held serious discussions about signing him.
You can see Falk’s tweet on the topic below…
TRUE ? A Transfer of @Phil_Coutinho to @NUFC is seriously discussed @SPORTBILD pic.twitter.com/G20WrhNQ6t
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) October 13, 2021
Coutinho has not lived up to his billing at all while at Barcelona, with patchy form and injuries stalling his career.
He has managed 23 goals and 14 assists in 96 appearances for the club, but arguably his best time since leaving Liverpool came when he went on loan to Bayern Munich and proceeded to score twice and get an assist against Barca in The Bavarians 8-2 demolition of them on route to the 2020 Champions League title.
Newcastle have been linked with a whole host of transfer targets since the Saudi-backed PIF takeover of the club was confirmed, but this rumour is one of the most tangible transfer links so far.
Coutinho has previously played in the Premier League with Liverpool. During that time he was known as a tricky player who enjoyed scoring spectacular goals.
He managed 54 goals and 45 assists in his 201 appearances at the club, and if he could get back to that kind of form with a return to England, he’d undoubtedly be a fine signing for Newcastle.