One would have thought that the surprises were over once Arsenal had finalized the signing of Lille winger Nicholas Pepe. The Ivory Coast international joined the Gunners fo club-record fee on Thursday, much to everyone’s shock including their own fans.
However, it has emerged that Arsenal is not yet one with big player signings after it emerged that they are looking to sign Barcelona and Brazil forward Phillipe Coutinho and French World Cup-winning defender Samuel Umtiti.
Recent reports suggest that Arsenal want to take both Coutinho and Samuel Umtiti on loan with an option to buy. Raul Sanllehi is rumoured to be meeting with Barcelona representatives tomorrow to discuss both deals. #afc #TransferTalk #arsenal pic.twitter.com/NZJ6RU2b12
— Juni (@Junii_6) August 4, 2019
Unai Emery’s side is in desperate need of a left-sided winger and a center back and could make an offer to the Catalans for the two out of favor players. Arsenal’s head of Football, Raul Sanllehi, is a former Barcelona executive and has a close relationship with the club which would make negotiations easy.
Arsenal just bought Pepe for 72 mil on their 40 mil budget. Now they want Tierney and Coutinho. On a fuck'n 40 mil budgetđ„đ„đ„đ„.
— JUNIAS (@Kankoshi_J) August 4, 2019
Arsenal are set to open talks with Barcelona over the loan signing of Philippe Coutinho.
(đ BeIN Sports) pic.twitter.com/8M67TA3WAn
— Jollof Sports (@JollofSports) August 4, 2019
Interestingly, Arsenal are set to play Barcelona on Sunday which would be the perfect stage to start negotiations. Barcelona is said to be willing to let Coutinho leave so they can make space for Neymar who is desperate to leave Paris Saint Germain.
Coutinho returns to Barcelona tomorrow and could even be heading out on loan. [@ElTransistorOC]
— Z (@ZR_7G1) August 3, 2019
The transfer window closes on the 8th of August for English teams meaning that the Gunners will have to make the deal happen quickly.