Guillem Balague, speaking on his YouTube show #AskGuillem, has been discussing the future of Philippe Coutinho and the links to Newcastle United.
The Toon are currently waiting to hear if Amanda Staveley’s Saudi-backed consortium have been successful in their attempts to buy Newcastle from Mike Ashley.
According to Balague, though, Staveley and the Toon army are not the only ones waiting as the Spaniard believes Coutinho is waiting for Newcastle’s takeover to be completed.
This is what he had to say about Coutinho’s situation in full.
“Coutinho is waiting for [the takeover announcement] to happen, and his representatives believe that Newcastle will make an effort to have him because he’s the kind of player that they can have.
“I’ve said that before: Newcastle should go for players that are finishing their contract like [Edinson] Cavani.
“So, yeah, they are waiting for that because the biggest effort that his representatives are doing is towards the Premier League, and the idea is for him to go to the Premier League.”
It seems that Balague believes that if the takeover of Newcastle goes through, there is the possibility that Coutinho ends up at St. James’ Park.
If the takeover goes through do Newcastle have a chance of signing Coutinho?
No
Yes
TIF Thoughts…
However, at this stage, talk of Coutinho feels premature considering the Toon’s takeover is still awaiting approval from the Premier League, though Balague believes that the PL will grant their approval.
The 28-year-old is not wanted by Barcelona and the aim is to return to the Premier League, as his agent Kia Joorabchian confirmed. (Sky Sports News via The Independent)
He has been linked with a move to Arsenal and Tyneside if the takeover happens and judging by Balague’s comments, he could be keen on a move to St. James’ Park.
Now he and the rest of Tyneside must wait for the PL’s decision, but Richard Masters did confirm in an interview that there was no timescale for this process, so it is unclear how much longer this could take.