Speaking recently on the Football Writers Podcast, Miguel Delaney claimed that Arsenal have been offered Philippe Coutinho by Barcelona in a swap deal for Matteo Guendouzi and a £10 million fee.
Since moving to Barcelona from Liverpool for a fee of £130.5 million back in 2018, the Brazilian has made 76 appearances for the Spanish side, scoring 21 goals and providing 11 assists.
However, at the beginning of last season, Coutinho found himself unwanted by Barca and was eventually loaned out to Bayern Munich, where he played 34 games, scoring nine goals and providing eight assists.
Barcelona are once again looking to loan or sell the 28-year-old this summer, with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said to be interested in the attacking midfielder.
And, speaking on the Football Writers Podcast, Miguel Delaney went as far as to claim that Barcelona have even offered Coutinho to the Gunners, in a swap deal involving Matteo Guendouzi.
He said: “I think given that Arteta is adamant about getting rid of [Mesut] Ozil, I think they do need that creativity. I think they have struggled a little bit in some games where they have played the approach they would want – a very proactive, full-on game against lesser opposition, and they haven’t been able to catch them out.
“I suppose what works with [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang, particularly in games like the weekend, is that there’s a lot of space to run in behind, because the opposition are coming at you. Whereas, that hasn’t been the case in a lot of games against the bottom half [clubs]. And it’s in games like that, that Arsenal could do with a number 10.
“We had a story on this on Friday, and we’ve been told that Coutinho has been offered to Arsenal for Guendouzi and a nominal £10 million fee.”
TIF Thoughts…
As such, it would appear that, if Arteta really is interested in signing the £50.40 million-rated Coutinho this summer, then he has a perfect opportunity to do so, but at the cost of losing Guendouzi.
Would you like to see Arsenal make a swap deal of Philippe Coutinho for Matteo Guendouzi?
Yes
No
Whether or not this is something that the Spaniard is open to remains to be seen, however, the idea of Coutinho at Arsenal is a very interesting one indeed.