Transfer News: Barcelona ready to cash in on Philippe Coutinho

Barcelona are open to offloading Philippe Coutinho in the January transfer window in an attempt to balance the books.

According to the Catalan news outlet, ARA, Barcelona are ready to make some major moves in the upcoming January transfer window. The Spanish giants are bracing themselves for a squad overhaul and, to that end, are willing to offload some of their star players including Philippe Coutinho and Junior Firpo.

Coutinho, in particular, has not been able to live up to the expectations yet again despite winning the treble with loan club Bayern Munich last season. And it appears that his lucrative wages might just be too much for the new management at Barcelona, who are once again said to be looking to offload the ex-Liverpool star next month.

Barca were willing to part ways with Coutinho in the summer for a fee of just €60 million, which is less than half of what they had initially paid Liverpool nearly three years ago. Unfortunately, they failed to find an offer as none of the European clubs were willing to take the gamble, especially due to the financial crisis inflicted by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Coutinho himself has very little on his defence, having failed to establish himself as a key player for the first-team despite the injuries of Ousmane Dembele and Ansu Fati as well as the departure of Luis Suarez. In fact, the 28-year-old has seen his game-time restricted by the two young wide attackers in Pedri and Trincao.

The playmaker’s declining form has been evident with the way Ronald Koeman has utilised him in recent weeks. He didn’t even start in key matches against Atletico Madrid or Juventus while he was subbed off at half-time in the defeat to Cadiz. It isn’t a great reflection for a player of his calibre and a move away from Camp Nou does indeed seem like the best option not just for the club but for the player as well.

For Barcelona, however, finding a suitor for Coutinho could still yet to be difficult. The Brazilian has an incredibly high wage demand, which even top dogs like Arsenal, who were keen on signing him in the summer, could find it difficult to match.

In addition, there are already a host of quality playmakers available in the January transfer window, including out-of-favour Inter Milan star Christian Eriksen and Real Madrid outcast Isco, who has been linked with a move to Emirates.

It could make the task significantly difficult for the Blaugrana to convince suitors to make a move for their Brazilian superstar, so it will be interesting to see how things transpire over the next few weeks.