The most expensive player ever to sign for Barcelona now can’t even get off of the bench against Dynamo Kyiv.
Phillipe Coutinho’s time at the Catalan giants is coming to an end, but the truth is it has been for a while now. The issue for Barca has been a lack of interest from elsewhere.
After two transfer windows have come and gone where the Spanish giants have tried to offload the Brazilian without success, the upcoming January window may well offer them a chance to finally end their association with a player who has never come close to living up to expectations.
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Sport are reporting that Newcastle are expected to try and sign him, and that Barca would even accept a loan transfer with an obligatory purchase option.
That would require the agreement of Coutinho himself of course, but given that he’ll know he has no future in Catalonia, surely the possibility of being one of the main men on Tyneside will appeal.
If negotiations do begin, Barcelona have to take the fullest advantage of the situation this time. In their current predicament, they simply cannot afford to keep hold of a player that has been stealing a living for the past few years.