Everything you need to know about the future of Philippe Coutinho amid Spurs and Arsenal links

Former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho could make a sensational return to the Premier League, with both Arsenal and Tottenham having expressed an interest in the Brazilian.

Coutinho secured his dream move to Barcelona in 2018, after five years with Liverpool, and it’s safe to say the move has not worked out.

A loan move to German giants Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 saw Coutinho earn a Champions League medal, the first of his career.

But his impressive form - 8 goals in 23 matches - was not been enough to cement his place in the Barcelona team, and it seems like he is not in new boss Xavi’s plans.

Now both the red and white side of north London are hoping to lure the Brazilian back to the Premier League.

Phillippe Coutinho’s career so far

Coutinho began his youth career with Vasco De Gama, before moving to Europe with Inter Milan.

In order to aid and continue his development, Coutinho was loaned back to Vasco, and had another loan spell with Espanyol before joining Liverpool in 2013 for £8.5 million.

In five years on Merseyside, we saw countless moments of brilliance from the Brazilian, and he left Liverpool just as Jurgen Klopp began to build his golden generation.

It’s believed his mega sale to Barcelona funded the signings of Virgil Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Alisson.

What do we know so far?

Before the January transfer window even opened, Barcelona managed to sign former Manchester City winger Ferran Torres for around £55 million.

There’s one problem, they can’t currently register him due to the salary cap meaning players must leave or sign new contracts on lower wages.

Barcelona’s chairman said that Xavi got his “wish” with the signing of Torres, and therefore, sacrifices must be made.

Barcelona’s financial difficulty has been widely reported.

The club need to sell to recoup money after some bad decisions in the transfer market.

Coutinho’s wage is reportedly quite high, so selling him would free up a lot of cash.

And, as Coutinho is now 29, he’s entering his prime years and needs to be playing consistently.

LIuis Minguel Sanz from the newspaper Sport said: “Coutinho is a top professional, and is doing everything in his power to help the club by agreeing to leave.

“His agent is continuing the search for clubs.

“He doesn’t want any strange adventure, he will leave only for Serie A or Premier League.”

Where could he go?

As previously mentioned, Arsenal and Tottenham have shown interest in him, but Aston Villa also believe they may have an outside chance.

After the emergence of Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, any potential move to Arsenal may now be futile.

He would have stiff competition in a very harmonious squad and Coutinho probably doesn’t want to gamble on his prime years and move from bench to bench.

A move to Spurs makes much more sense.

He can be their sole creative outlet, play in his preferred number 10 role, and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has promised to back Antonio Conte financially.

As Coutinho wants out and Barcelona also want him gone, it would be a cheap and stress-free transfer.