Journalist Dean Jones has recently talked about the possibility of Arsenal moving for Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho this summer.
It has recently been reported that Barcelona can’t register their new summer signings because of a financial crisis and Coutinho is one of the players that the club is desperate to get rid of, alongside the likes of Samuel Umtiti and Miralem Pjanic.
Coutinho was one of the players that Jones focused on when he appeared on the latest episode of Touchline Talk. He discussed the possibility of Arsenal moving for the Brazilian this summer.
Should Arsenal move to sign Coutinho?
Yes
No
Jones stated that Coutinho could become a plausible option for the Gunners and the player’s willingness may not be a problem.
He said: “You have to believe that he can get back to that level and those clubs that you’re talking about there, particularly an Arsenal, who are obviously struggling to attract top-tier players right now because they’re not in Europe – that’s a route they should be looking down.
“With their agent links, I think it’s very plausible that Coutinho can become an option for them. If the player is keen – which I don’t see why he shouldn’t see Arsenal as a good platform – they’re looking for an attacking midfielder, a creator; [they] absolutely should be looking.”
TIF Thoughts on Coutinho to Arsenal…
Given Coutinho’s previous experiences in the Premier League – which earned him a mega-money move to Barcelona in 2018 – it could be considered something of a coup if Arsenal were to sign him considering their current standing domestically, as Jones points out.
However, Coutinho’s career has been stagnated somewhat at Barcelona, as he could make only 12 appearances in the league last season while directly contributing to four goals for the Catalans. He could score only five times in the 2018/19 La Liga campaign (as per Transfermarkt).
He’s now 29 and has also faced a lot of injury issues. So unless Barcelona are willing to sell the Brazilian for a cheap fee, Arsenal perhaps shouldn’t look to sign him right away and should look at younger, fitter options instead of signing a player whose career hasn’t been so promising at Barcelona.
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