English Premier League outfit Arsenal can boast of a number of Brazilian in the team, including Gabriel Magalhaes, Willian, Gabriel Matinielli, and David Luiz but the number would have increased last summer.
Brazilian international Philippe Coutinho was already considering a move to the North London outfit from Barcelona last summer window as he was keen on leaving the Spanish La Liga giants but the coming of new manager Ronald Koeman stopped everything.
This was revealed by popular transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano who stated that at some point, the North London outfit were close to agreeing on a deal for the former Liverpool player after ending his loan spell with German Bundesliga outfit.
Philippe Coutinho did not impress in his first year at Barcelona after leaving Liverpool in a big-money deal and that unsettled him at the club. He was forced to move out on loan to the Bundesliga outfit to save his career.
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When he was to leave Bayern Munich, a return to the Camp Nou was never an option for the 28-year-old while a chance to join the Emirates Stadium was opened to him.
Rightly so, Barcelona were uninterested in having Philippe Coutinho back at the club but after signing new manager Ronald Koeman, there was a change as the new boss made it clear that he has the Brazilian in his plan for the new season.
Philippe Coutinho was left with no option than to return to Barcelona where he is now trying to bring back his career to live.
According to Fabrizio Romano, “Before, Barca were considering to sell Philippe Coutinho and he was on the list to sell, so his agents were working to offer him to Tottenham, to Arsenal” he told Blood Red
He added that “Arsenal were really close and at the start of August, they were ready. But once Koeman arrived, he understood it was difficult to sign other players, for example Memphis Depay”
