Charles Watts, the Arsenal correspondent for Goal, discussed rumours linking the club with a move for Philippe Coutinho this summer during a recent YouTube video.
The former Liverpool midfielder left Merseyside to join the Spanish giants Barcelona in a deal reportedly worth £130.5m back in January 2018 (as per Transfermarkt). However, it is fair to say the Brazilian’s big move might not have turned out as he may have imagined prior.
The Catalan club loaned the 28-year-old to Bayern Munich at the start of the 2019/20 campaign but the Bundesliga side have made it clear they do not intend to exercise their option to purchase the player on a permanent deal.
So, what has Watts made of the reports that he could be on his way to North London this summer? Here is what he had to say: “Barcelona are desperately trying to get him to move to Arsenal, they’ve offered him to Arsenal plenty of times. Arteta is keen on an attacking midfielder, a player who can play out wide this summer, it is just a case of [whether] a deal be done for that, because Arsenal can’t afford Coutinho, certainly not at the price that Barcelona want.”
Would you like to see Arsenal break the bank to land Coutinho?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts…
It’s clear that the journalist doesn’t believe the Gunners have the funds to sign Coutinho from Barcelona on a permanent basis but that doesn’t mean a loan move is completely off of the table.
Although the north London club managed to qualify for the UEFA Europa League having won the FA Cup, judging by the tone of the entire video, we get the impression that Arsenal’s chances of doing significant business this summer rest on whether or not they are able to sell some of their current squad to reduce their wage bill and boost their transfer kitty.