Spanish media continue to signal Barcelona’s chase for Philippe Coutinho will be be ongoing in January, but now Paris Saint-Germain want the Brazilian too.
The public chase of the Liverpool No. 10 ranged between embarrassing and irritating for much of the summer, and ultimately left Barcelona defeated—at least temporarily.
Coutinho has since returned to top form with the Reds, scoring several superb goals in the past six weeks, and that form seems to have reminded the Spanish news outlets that it’s a storyline to follow through to the winter window.
If Reds fans needed any reminding that this was a saga with more twists, turns and—let’s face it—downright untruths to be reported in the coming months, they need only look at the latest updates.
Mundo Deportivo report (via Mirror) that Barcelona still want Coutinho, and that Kia Joorabchian has told the Catalan outfit Liverpool will sell for £135 million.
However, there are fears from those at the Camp Nou that unless they get a deal wrapped up in January, they’ll miss out entirely thanks to PSG’s rising interest.
And finally, Diario Gol are suggesting (via Mirror) that while Barca chiefs might want Coutinho, some top players do not.
Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic have been impressed by Paulinho since his arrival in the summer, while others such as Sergi Roberto, Denis Suarez and Andre Gomes provide depth in the centre of the park.
That makes the addition of Coutinho unnecessary in their eyes.
The Reds turned down three bids for their No. 10 in the summer and the club have certainly given no indication that their stance is set to change.
A mid-season sale appears incredibly unlikely, especially if Liverpool remain in the Champions League after the group stage.
It looks as though fans will simply have to put up with the slew of suspicion and unsettling news stories aimed the Brazilian’s way, an all-too-common approach in the market in the modern day.
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