Barcelona outcast primed to be a fundamental part of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal project

As the Premier League teams get back in the swing of full contact training, the summer transfer window will shortly appear on the horizon, and there should still be plenty of deals to be done.

One of those could be Philippe Coutinho signing on the dotted line with Arsenal. That’s because, according to ABC and cited by Football Espana, Mikel Arteta considers the player as a ‘fundamental pillar’ for his project.

The one stumbling block could be the price, with Football Espana suggesting that it will take €80m to prise the Brazilian from the Catalan club.

Owing to the coronavirus pandemic, most clubs will probably have to tighten their belt where transfers are concerned, with loan deals or player swaps being the order of the day.

Barcelona, however, do appear to be in urgent need of new funds in order to be able to facilitate their own summer purchases and to be able to get some money back into club coffers.

Coutinho, after failed spells in Spain and in Germany with Bayern Munich, is likely to jump at the chance to return to the Premier League, where he arguably played his best football with Liverpool.