Arsenal trying to sign South American star, formal talks to take place on Sunday

We’re now at the business end of the summer transfer window and managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip from around the world. Here, Arsenal are linked with Philippe Coutinho…

Arsenal are trying to sign Philippe Coutinho on loan and club officials will hold formal talks with Barcelona over a potential deal on Sunday, according to Brazilian journalist Rafael Hernandez.

Coutinho has been strongly linked with a move away from Barcelona this summer after struggling to replicate the kind of form he showed during his time at Liverpool that earned him a big-money move to the Nou Camp in January 2018.

The Brazilian international was booed by sections of his own fanbase last season following a string of poor performances and he’s set to lose his first team place to Antoine Griezmann after he arrived from Atletico Madrid this summer.

Barca are also being linked with a stunning move for Neymar and his arrival would see Coutinho knocked even further down the pecking order so it’s no surprise the former Liverpool star is being tipped for a move.

Sport claims Barcelona have decided to offload Coutinho this summer and are open to the idea of an initial loan with a view to a permanent deal in 12 months time. The Spanish publication says Barca have already received a formal offer from an unnamed club and suggest Coutinho’s most likely destination is a return to the Premier League.

Many would assume the South American would head to the likes of Liverpool, United or City, however, respected Brazilian journalist Rafael Hernandez claims it’s Arsenal who are trying to secure what would be a shock loan deal for Coutinho.

Hernandez says officials are due to meet to discuss a potential transfer when Arsenal take on Barcelona in the Joan Gamper match on Sunday evening and he points out that Raul Sanllehi’s good relationship with his former club would help facilitate a deal.

Hernandez tweeted:

Arsenal apparently trying to get Coutinho on loan. Strange rumour, the club officials are meeting at the Joan Gamper match this Sunday… Still, wouldn’t call it anything but meaningless buzz at the moment.

Raul Sanllehi has a good relationship with the Barcelona board. It would facilitate things, that’s for sure.

This rumour has come from nowhere and it would be a huge shock if Arsenal did end up signing Coutinho over the coming days as we’ve already brought in Gabriel Martinelli, Dani Ceballos and broken our transfer record to sign Nicolas Pepe for £72m.

Unless the club manage to sell Henrikh Mkhitaryan or Mesut Ozil then I don’t see how we could justify splashing out on Coutinho as the priority should be strengthening the defence during the closing days of the window, not bringing in another attacker.

Read –> Arsenal transfer news

Don’t get me wrong, obviously Coutinho is an amazing player and I’d love to see him at Arsenal, but I’d much prefer the club to bring in a top class centre-back. Let’s see how things develop but I’d personally be shocked if anything came of these Coutinho rumours.