Barcelona are ‘in the hands of Pochettino’, report Marca on Tuesday.
Mauricio Pochettino has long had a rivalry with the Catalan club, having been a player at, and manager of, Espanyol in the past. Now it’s suggested he could do them a rather big favour.
With the former Tottenham boss being repeatedly linked with taking over at Newcastle United, it’s hoped he can provide a new home for Philippe Coutinho.
The pair worked well together when Coutinho was on loan at Espanyol from Inter Milan, which is link enough, along with Newcastle’s takeover, to drag the Magpies in as a potential solution.
Barca’s hope would be that the takeover goes through, Pochettino says yes to any offer from Newcastle, and then targets Coutinho as his major signing for the summer window.
€10m for a loan and then a mandatory €70m purchase option would likely be acceptable.
The Premier League club would be expected to pick up the player’s wages, which would give them more room to sign players.
A loan-to-purchase deal would give Newcastle enough time to add sponsors and help with FFP worries, and also mean Coutinho’s value is more amortised in Barcelona’s accounts, meaning they may even be able to count it as a profit next year.
