PHILIPPE COUTINHO has reportedly told Barcelona he wants to leave in the summer and make his loan move to Bayern Munich permanent.
The Brazilian playmaker is currently on a season-long stay at the Bundesliga giants, where he has chipped in with seven goals and eights assists in 27 games.
Barcelona are believed to be keen on offloading Philippe Coutinho in the summerCredit: Getty Images – Getty
And according to Catalan radio show Club de la Mitjanit, the 27-year-old has his eyes firmly set on remaining with the Bavarian side.
It has been claimed that the Copa America winner has let the Blaugrana know of his intentions to leave, with the LaLiga side agreeing to sanction his exit.
They add that Coutinho has expressed his desire to remain a Bayern player, with Barca reaching out to the German outfit to ask them what they intend to do.
However they state that Bayern are unsure on whether they want to turn his loan spell into a permanent move, and haven’t yet made a decision.
SunSport recently reported how the Spanish club would be prepared to offload for Coutinho for a cut-price fee of £77million – nearly half of the £145m fee they paid for him in 2018.
It has been speculated that as well as former employers Liverpool, the ex-Inter Milan ace has also been attracting the interest of Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham.
Coutinho has disappointed in recent weeks for Bayern, with the player failing to get on the score sheet since he netted a hat-trick against Hertha Berlin on December 14.
Speaking of his form, Bayern boss Hansi Flick recently said: “It’s not easy – the training sessions of Philippe have been very good lately.
“Of course, not everything was great against Hoffenheim [last Wednesday], but it wasn’t all bad either.
“I don’t think he is 100 per cent satisfied with the performance he is currently showing, but he’s a player of ours and we have to help him, whatever we do.
“I’m sure he’ll help us a lot, so we have to wait and see. In every career there are low points and it is not so easy to fit into such a homogeneous team. He is fit and I am in a positive mood.”
Bayern Munich star Philippe Coutinho wears replica jersey as he scores hat-trick against Werder Bremen
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
