Arsenal have reportedly reacted with ‘suspicion’ as Barcelona offer Philippe Coutinho to them on loan and seem utterly desperate to ensure the deal goes through.
This is according to a report from Sport, who suggest that Arsenal have not been entirely convinced by Barcelona’s efforts to offer them Coutinho, which seems fair given that the Brazil international has been such a spectacular flop at the Nou Camp.
The Gunners could perhaps benefit from strengthening in attack at the moment, with upgrades needed on struggling performers like Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but they can surely do better than Coutinho.
Despite being such a world class performer during his Liverpool days, it’s hard to imagine that Coutinho will ever get back to being the player he was, with the 29-year-old now very clearly someone who Barca cannot wait to be rid of.
Some Arsenal fans may well think it’s worth a gamble, especially if Coutinho only arrives on a short-term deal that would be relatively low-risk.
Overall, however, the north London giants surely need to learn from their recent experiences with signings like Willian and David Luiz, who both moved to the Emirates Stadium long after their peak years.
Sport suggest Barcelona have also offered Coutinho to other Premier League clubs, but a move to Newcastle seems to have been ruled out.
It remains to be seen if Arsenal will be persuaded, but for now their fans can perhaps be encouraged by Sport’s claims that they’ve been sceptical about the idea of taking Coutinho off Barcelona’s hands.