How Marseille plan on signing Arsenal and Man Utd target Coutinho

12 Jul 2021 09:38 BST
5 min read

Philippe Coutinho’s accurate passing, and why it’s a problem for Barcelona — © ProShots

Barcelona are desperately trying to offload some of their first team stars and that means Philippe Coutinho is almost certainly going to leave the club this summer.

With a reported annual salary of around €12 million, the former Liverpool playmaker has long since stopped being worth the money spent on him at the Catalan club.

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However, thankfully for the troubled club, it seems as though a number of clubs could be interested in offering Coutinho an opportunity to rebuild his career and reputation.

According to reports in England, the 29-year-old midfielder has attracted interest from Leicester City, Everton, Manchester United and Arsenal in recent months.

That, largely, will be due to the fact that Coutinho will cost very little money to actually buy, despite having a contract until 2023. He’ll certainly be available for far less than the €35.5m he’s currently valued at.

However, the stumbling block will come from Coutinho’s remarkable salary demands and whether any of the potential suitors believe the Brazilian is really worth that kind of money.

That is, of course, unless a club may be able to work around that. And according to L'Equipe, Marseille may have found a way to snatch Coutinho right from under the noses of the interested Premier League sides.

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How Marseille plan on signing Coutinho this summer

According to the French publication, the Ligue 1 outfit are extremely interested in signing Coutinho this summer but, like their English counterparts, have no interest or capacity to continue paying the midfielder his Barcelona wages.

As such, Marseille will instead offer Coutinho €6m per year in salary, but offer him a transfer bonus of €10m to make up for the notable pay cut he’ll make in France.

While that may not be enough to make up Coutinho’s wages for the duration of his spell in France, it may be enough of a short-term fix to entice the player away from Barca and allow Marseille to sign the playmaker this summer.