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Philippe Coutinho agrees to Barcelona transfer – REPORT

Philippe Coutinho

Philippe Coutinho has agreed to make the switch to Barcelona in the summer according to a report published in Spain today.

Spanish publication Sport claim that the Liverpool midfielder has told Barcelona officials that he wants a move to the Nou Camp providing a deal can be brokered between both clubs.

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However, it is claimed that Liverpool want £76million for the 24-year-old Brazilian but that Barcelona are not willing to break the bank to make a transfer happen. Nou Camp officials have informed the player’s representative that Coutinho would have to apply pressure at Anfield to make a deal happen. If Coutinho is unable to succeed in forcing Liverpool to lower their valuation, the suggestion is that Barcelona will walk away for the time being.

While the report is speculative, we have maintained for months that Barcelona are interested in signing Coutinho but we have continually stressed that this could only happen if the deal worked for them i.e. is financially attractive. If that was the case, then that would mean it wouldn’t be as attractive to Liverpool which means only the player can then try and push for a move, just like Luis Suarez did.

Barcelona would take him but they don’t appear that arsed if we can put it that bluntly, so the player needs to be careful with what he says over the coming weeks in case he needs to remain where he is. Unlike Suarez, we think Coutinho would be fairly honest about things. He seems happy enough at Anfield but he is desperate to link up with his boy Neymar and few would stand in the way of his dream move should it present itself.

Spanish football expert Guillem Balagué says he has “no doubt” that Coutinho wants to sign for Barcelona and that his representative is trying to sell the idea to Barcelona. Like ourselves, Balagué isn’t convinced that the Catalan outfit are that interested. He doesn’t even think they’ll bid.

There’s no proof that Coutinho is personally trying to instigate a transfer so there’s no need to CAPS LOCK him to death just yet. However, you’d be fairly naive to think he wouldn’t be aware of what his representative is communicating to Barcelona and vice-versa.

Expect further and more intensive reports concerning Coutinho and Barcelona to filter out towards the end of this month.

We’ll discuss these latest claims today on KopTalk.TV, our free YouTube channel.