The Red Devils have been hit with a major setback in terms of trying to sign Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho in the summer as the player’ agent has ruled out a move to Manchester United.
Ever since Philippe Coutinho moved to Barcelona back in January 2018 from Liverpool in a staggering £142 million deal, he has struggled to live up to expectations and not justified the hefty price tag. In fact, his outings have been so poor that the Catalonian side is looking to sell the Brazilian ace in the summer because of poor performances and the arrival of Antoine Griezmann could push Coutinho further down the pecking order.
With Coutinho’s future uncertain at the Camp Nou, Manchester United was looking to take advantage of the situation and try to lure the midfield gem at Old Trafford. However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may have to look elsewhere for a suitable replacement for Paul Pogba as Coutinho’s agent Kia Joorabchian has labeled a move to Manchester United nearly impossible.
While speaking to news outlet talkSPORT, Joorabchian revealed that Coutinho still has a soft corner for Liverpool and would not join any of their rival clubs, “Manchester United is a great club, I have players there and I have all the respect for them, but as far as Philippe goes, it would be extremely difficult to a near-impossible move, I would be very difficult for Philippe to play for any of Liverpool’s rivals, because he has such a great affinity towards Liverpool. His time there was fantastic. Like all big players at some point, you want to experience a different thing in your career because your career is very short, but it [his Liverpool exit] has no reflection on the fact his heart and affinity is very much with Liverpool.”
United are in dire need of midfield reinforcements as the red half of Manchester is keen on bringing in top-class players so they can improve on their sixth-place finish from last season.
