Coutinho on his wish list but United want Eriksen
Philippe Coutinho has finally been told he can leave Barcelona on loan and is hoping for a return to the Premier League before tomorrow’s deadline. Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United are being most strongly linked with a move for Coutinho although, according to sources, “no concrete offer” has been made for the 27-year-old Brazilian.
There have been a number of inquiries, with Arsenal also believed to be monitoring developments, even though their priorities – mainly a central defender – lie elsewhere. Liverpool are not understood to be expected to make a bid for their former player, but Paris St-germain could revive their previous interest.
United are already pursuing an audacious late move for Tottenham playmaker Christian Eriksen, but may move for Coutinho if they cannot seal that deal before 5pm tomorrow.
Coutinho moved to Barcelona from Liverpool for £142million in January 2018 – the highest fee received by an English club – and until recently his representatives had been told that his future would remain at the Nou Camp.
That appears to have changed in recent days, with the feeling now shared by Coutinho that it may be in his best interests to move on and, probably, to return to England, where he enjoyed such success.
Nevertheless, Barcelona would expect to receive a record loan fee for Coutinho – a figure of £21million for the season has been quoted in Spain. His wages of more than £200,000 a week would also have to be met in full.
Spurs have distanced themselves from reports that they have submitted a formal offer and it is understood manager Mauricio Pochettino – who worked with Coutinho at Espanyol – has not called the player, as had been suggested, to attempt to persuade him to join the club.
Spurs are, nevertheless, at the centre of a number of potentially big deals before the window closes and would not rule out a move for Coutinho. Eriksen has been linked with several top European clubs, including Real Madrid, Juventus and Atletico Madrid, but Spurs have yet to receive a formal bid and United are hoping that may encourage them to compromise on price.
Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman, would prefer to sell Eriksen overseas rather than to a direct rival, but he is also reluctant to allow a valuable asset to leave for nothing when his contract expires next summer. United would have to pay a significantly higher fee than a European suitor, but there is hope Levy would accept much less than the £130 million English clubs were being quoted at the end of last season.
Spurs are braced for European clubs making cut-price bids of below £50 million for Eriksen once the Premier League window closes, as the windows in Spain, Italy, Germany and France are open until later.
Spurs are already closing in on a deal to sign Real Betis midfielder Giovani Lo Celso for up to €60 million (£55.3 million) before tomorrow and also still hold an interest in Sporting Lisbon’s Bruno Fernandes, although it seems less likely that he will make the move. To complicate matters further, Spurs have also registered their interest in Juventus’s Paulo Dybala, but it is unlikely Spurs would sign him and his countryman Lo Celso.
Spurs have also received a €15 million offer from a French club for right-back Serge Aurier. Sources at PSG have played down suggestions that they are planning to resign the Ivorian, who they sold to Spurs in August 2017 for £23million, but transfers are now in the sole control of new sporting director Leonardo, who likes Aurier.
Uncertainty continues to surround the future of Paul Pogba at Old Trafford, meanwhile.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the United manager, said over the weekend that he had “no doubts” Pogba would still be a United player come the start of the season and there are questions whether either Real or Juventus can afford the club’s £160million-plus valuation. Those suspicions grew last week when United rejected a derisory bid of €30 million plus Colombia striker James Rodriguez from Real for Pogba.
Solskjaer would like to have both the Frenchman and Eriksen in his team.