Manchester United and Manchester City have reportedly been offered the opportunity to snap up Barcelona forward Philippe Coutinho.
According to a report from Sport, Barcelona are keen on offloading Philippe Coutinho in the upcoming January transfer window. The Spanish giants have held talks with Premier League giants Manchester City and Manchester United recently, primarily to negotiate a deal for some of their targets.
The Catalans, after all, remain interested in snapping up Ferran Torres, Raheem Sterling and Edinson Cavani. However, it appears Barcelona have also offered the two Premier League giants the opportunity to sign Coutinho, potentially with the intention of using the attacker as a makeweight.
It is apparent that Barcelona are desperate to offload the Brazilian in January, following a disastrous spell in Catalonia. Indeed, the former Liverpool star has been a massive disappointment in Spain, having scored only 25 goals in 103 competitive appearances.
He has failed to replicate his performances in La Liga, often struggling with either form or injuries. It has also proven to be difficult for him to live up to the massive expectations from the Barcelona fans. As a result, he has fallen behind the likes of Ansu Fati, Memphis Depay and even Yusuf Demir in the pecking order.
Coutinho is among the highest-paid players in the Barcelona squad at the moment, which is another grave issue for the Blaugrana amid their financial crisis. And unlike Ousmane Dembele, the Brazilian attacker’s Barcelona contract does not expire until 2023.
It has resulted in a lack of interest in Coutinho from other major clubs across Europe. Earlier, it was reported that Liverpool have no intention of re-signing their former star, and it appears their Premier League rivals in Manchester City and Manchester United have a similar stance regarding the Brazilian.
Neither of the two teams wants Coutinho as part of the deal to offload their star players in January. Instead, Manchester United and Manchester City prefer cash payments, with City already slapping a hefty €70 million price tag on Ferran Torres.
Manchester United, though, prefer a cash deal for Barcelona target Anthony Martial, as they look to use the funds to land top targets such as Dani Olmo and Julian Alvarez in the upcoming January transfer window.
It could serve as a massive blow for Barcelona, who could be set for yet another long transfer window as they look to work out the possibilities regarding the future of their unwanted stars like Coutinho and Luuk de Jong.