Brendan Rodgers and Philippe Coutinho could be set for a reunion that might just be fantastic news for Arsenal.
Leicester City have been linked with a move for the Barcelona attacking midfielder, with reports in Spain claiming that they along with AC Milan and Inter Milan are ‘showing an interest’ in the Brazilian.
Furthermore, Spanish outlet SPORT state that Barcelona ready to accept as little as £20million or sanction a loan move for the 29-year-old who has struggled since his big-money move from Liverpool in January 2018.
Although Coutinho is still recovering from a knee issue that saw him miss the second half of last season, so there’s a chance he could leave in the January transfer window if Barca can’t move him on this summer.
Arsenal might just be hoping it’s not the latter as if Coutinho was to join Leicester in the current window, it could boost their chances of signing James Maddison.
As reported by football.london , whilst Gunners manager Mikel Arteta is a huge admirer of the 24-year-old, the one major sticking point for getting a deal done is the Foxes’ demands of over £60million.
But could Leicester’s stance be softened if they were to bring in a direct replacement for Maddison?
Well, judging by Rodgers’ glowing praise of Coutinho, he would be open to the idea of being reunited with the player he used to manage at Liverpool several years ago.
“I think if you’ve watched my teams over a period of time you will see I like quick, dynamic, flexibility, rotation, movement, speed, power,” Rodgers told the Beautiful Game Podcast last year. “That’s the make up of my teams.
“When I was looking at the team in the first six months there were certain ingredients that were missing.
“Philippe was one I knew from my Chelsea days. We tried to get him to Chelsea when he was 14 but he had already committed to Inter Milan. So we talked about him in the summer and kept tabs on him.
The summer window is officially open, and it’s going to be tough to keep up with the comings and goings in and out of the Emirates.
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“Then all of a sudden he became available. At 19 we thought ‘Wow. Right let’s get this boy in!’
“Most people would have probably looked at him and thought he’s not for the Premier League. But what a talent. He intimidates people when he has the ball with his quality.
“This boy is top, and if he comes back to the league he will show that he’s world class.”