Guillem Balague has commented on the future of Philippe Coutinho – and he seems to think that the playmaker is waiting for Newcastle United’s takeover.
Coutinho joined Barcelona in a staggering £142million deal back in January 2018. The Catalan giants splashed the cash after seeing Coutinho enjoy five successful years at Liverpool.
However, the Brazilian hasn’t been able to recapture that form at the Camp Nou. In fact, Barca were happy for him to move out on loan last summer, sending him to Bayern Munich.
Coutinho hit nine goals and eight assists, but it hasn’t been enough for Bayern to sign him permanently. The playmaker now returns to Barcelona, where he seems to be surplus to requirements.
Unsurprisingly, Coutinho has been strongly linked with a return to England. Mundo Deportivo reported in May that Newcastle United were in the race for his signature, if their takeover goes through.
On Sunday, reports from the Sunday World claimed that Coutinho wanted a return to Liverpool. It’s unclear whether Jurgen Klopp actually wants him back though.
Now, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague has suggested that Coutinho and his representatives are waiting for Newcastle’s takeover to go through before deciding his future, believing that the Magpies will make an effort to sign him.
Balague added that there is ‘no truth whatsoever’ to the claims that Liverpool want Coutinho, naming Newcastle as favourites providing their drawn-out takeover actually materialises.
“We know that the new Newcastle, once everything gets confirmed, and everybody expects it to be confirmed, from what I’m reading, from what I’m hearing, from what I’ve been asking, the consensus seems to be that the Premier League will accept the bid, and if that’s the case, then obviously Newcastle will enter a new era,” said Balague. “Coutinho is waiting for that to happen, and his representatives, they believe that Newcastle will make an effort to have him, because he is the kind of player they can have.”
“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. Now, there has been talks about Arsenal – nothing has arrived from Arsenal – and there has been talks about Liverpool, going back on loan. No truth whatsoever. Liverpool are not interested, no offer has existed, and I understand the work that representatives have to do, to make it look like there is an auction for him; there isn’t such a thing at the moment. The favourites, if you have to choose from the Premier League are Newcastle, if the bid comes in and if they eventually make an offer for him so some kind that Barcelona is happy with. They want to get rid of Coutinho, that’s for certain, but at this point, everything is possible – including him staying, but that seems unlikely,” he added.
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