Transfer insider Dean Jones has talked up a potential move to Arsenal for Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho.
The Brazilian hasn’t enjoyed his best years since leaving Liverpool in order to join the Catalan club, and his stock has definitely dropped somewhat from being a massive £142 Million signing (re: Liverpool Echo) just three-and-a-half years ago.
While Coutinho now struggles to break into manager Ronald Koeman’s starting line-up, that doesn’t mean that he couldn’t be of use elsewhere, and Arsenal are definitely expected to bring in at least one player who can play in behind the striker.
Insider Jones is of the belief that we should be looking into the option of signing the 29 year-old.
Jones told Touchline Talk: “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.”
I certainly have my reservations about signing Coutinho, but if he could return to anything close to the level he played at in the Premier League previously, he would surely prove to be a huge bargain.
His stats during his spell with Bayern were more than respectable, despite playing a bit-part role, scoring 11 goals and picking up nine assists in just over 2100 minutes of football(roughly 107 minutes per goal contribution), before returning to Barca to once again find himself rarely touching pitch.
Who knows, but I might go as far to say that the Spanish top tier, or possibly even Barcelona, just isn’t working for Coutinho, whereas he has already shown how dangerous he can be in the Premier League.
Do you believe Coutinho should be on our shortlist for the attacking roles this summer?
Patrick