Arsenal make decision on Barcelona outcast Coutinho

 

Arsenal are not interested in signing former Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona, reports The Daily Mirror.

 

Coutinho has been a massive disappointment for Barcelona and the Spanish side are desperate to offload him to ease their financial woes.

 

Reports emerged over the weekend suggesting Arsenal were keen on the Brazil international as Mikel Arteta looks to bolster his offensive options.

 

Arsenal were reportedly even willing to include Alexandre Lacazette or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as part of a swap deal but those claims have now been rubbished.

 

While Arsenal are open to Lacazette's departure this summer, they are not looking at Coutinho or any potential swap deal with Barcelona.

 

Lacazette has entered the final 12 months of his current Arsenal deal and is unlikely to be offered a new one.

 

Both Lacazette and Aubameyang missed Arsenal's opening day defeat to newly promoted Brentford through illness, fuelling talk of a departure.

 

Arsenal are instead on the verge of signing Real Madrid youngster Martin Odegaard on a permanent deal worth in the region of £30m.

 

 

Coutinho made just 12 league appearances for Barcelona last season and currently does not even have a squad number for the new campaign.

 

Barcelona agreed a deal with Liverpool worth as much as £142m to sign Coutinho in January 2018 but the transfer has proved a massive disaster.

 

Coutinho was shipped off to Bayern Munich on loan after his first full season with Barcelona but only started 15 league games in Germany.

 

The 29-year-old has only featured in 64 of a possible 97 league matches for Barcelona since his arrival and has played a direct hand in just 24 goals in that time.