Last week, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund [PIF] completed the purchase of Newcastle United and days after that, Sport stated Philippe Coutinho has emerged as ‘one of the priorities’ for the Magpies.
Journalist Lluís Mascaró, writing in today’s edition of Sport, claims the Brazilian and Samuel Umtiti’s are ‘two really painful cases’ that Barcelona will look to solve in the winter market.
The 29-year-old arrived at the Camp Nou from Liverpool in January 2018 and in the process, became the La Liga side’s most expensive signing.
He has struggled to justify the big price tag [€120m + €40m in bonuses] and Barca have found it hard to sell him in previous windows.
It’s been suggested the new owners are planning to make a ‘media’ signing. Sport say that if the English club were to sign Coutinho, Barca ‘would be delighted’.
Regarding the price tag, Mascaró states: ‘Any figure is good, because the devaluation of Coutinho has been so great that his market price does not reach €30m.’
With Coutinho reportedly one of the priorities for Newcastle, his signing, if done for less than €30m, may be beneficial for all parties involved.
