Tottenham Hotspur seemingly won’t be signing Philippe Coutinho.
Tottenham Hotspur are expected to busy ahead of Thursday’s transfer deadline, but one player who seemingly won’t arrive is Philippe Coutinho.
The Brazilian playmaker emerged as a shock target on Tuesday, with The Times claiming that Spurs were looking into a loan deal worth a staggering £21million.
Sadly, that seemingly won’t happen. Sky Sports claim that Coutinho has rejected a move to Tottenham, whilst The Telegraph merely suggest that they’re no longer pursuing his signature.
That’s a major shame, as whilst the 27-year-old hasn’t lived up to his billing at Barcelona, he would have been able to provide flair and a bit of magic at Tottenham.
It’s also disappointing given the relationship between the two, as seeing them finally reunite would have been great for Tottenham fans to see.
Pochettino took Coutinho on loan to Espanyol in 2012, with the Brazilian scoring five goals in 16 games, and Pochettino even wanted Coutinho at Southampton in 2013, but Liverpool hijacked the move (BBC).
Even since then, the pair have been praising each other. Just months after missing out on Coutinho, Pochettino suggested to BBC Sport that he had skill akin to Lionel Messi, and in 2015, Coutinho praised Pochettino to the Daily Mail, suggesting that he gave him confidence and encouraged him to play with flair.
Reuniting would have been perfect for Coutinho to get that confidence back, having struggled at Barca, but unless Tottenham and Pochettino can somehow resurrect a late move, Spurs won’t be reuniting the pair – for now at least.
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