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Hello and welcome to Sportskeeda's Daily Transfer Roundup. We're heading towards the business end of the season and things are getting quite heated at the top of the table in some of the most competitive football leagues in the world.
Also See: La Liga Transfer News | La Liga Fixtures | La Liga News
Come what may, all teams will go into the transfer window hoping that they can strengthen their side by bringing in quality additions and also trim their respective squads so as to maintain a decent wage balance.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the top transfer news, rumours and updates that made headlines on 1 April 2019.
Liverpool's stance on Philippe Coutinho revealed
Barcelona signed Philippe Coutinho in the winter of 2018 for a hefty sum amid huge fanfare. The Brazilian who sealed his dream move was all set to take LaLiga by storm. He impressed initially. However, in his first full season as a Barcelona player, Coutinho has struggled immensely and has been a shadow of his former self that used to terrorize Premier League defences.
As a result, Barcelona are now open to offloading him in the summer with Manchester United's being the most prominent name that is being linked with the Brazilian.
Guillem Balague, the Spanish transfer expert, claimed that Liverpool have no interest in signing Coutinho again.
He revealed,
"Liverpool are not interested in bringing him back. Barcelona don't want to sell,"
"There's no intention to sell Coutinho. He has to improve, certainly, we haven't seen his best version. But Barcelona don't have the intention of selling him. That's what they're saying.
"I'm convinced that behind the stories is a real push to make him attractive to the Premier League in case Barcelona want to sell him.
"There's been meetings with representatives in Barcelona and the conclusion is they're not moving and Coutinho is very important to the side.
"Do they say that because that's what they must say at the moment?"
Arsenal to try to strengthen their defence with Umtiti and Alaba
Unai Emery will reportedly ensure that Arsenal's defensive woes are addressed in the summer. Umtiti and Alaba have seen their situation at Barcelona and Bayern respectively, deteriorate a bit despite both of them being regular starters. In fact, the latter's contract renewal drama has consumed much time.
Bayern Munich are reportedly all set for a squad overhaul in the summer which will involve funds close to £300 million. They're also planning on shedding some of their regular players and it is in this scenario that Alaba's name is being mentioned.
Alaba had recently revealed his admiration for Arsenal and would be open to talks in the summer. However, Arsenal will face competition from Barcelona for the Austrian international.
Umtiti will greatly improve Arsenal's shaky defence and Emery will need to stump Barcelona with a stunning offer if the Gunners are to have any chance of signing the French World Cup winner.
Manchester United want Toni Kroos+Gareth Bale in exchange for Paul Pogba
According to a report in The Guardian, Zinedine Zidane's latest comments have intensified the speculation over Paul Pogba's future at Manchester United. As per the report, Manchester United want Toni Kroos and Gareth Bale in exchange in any deal involving Paul Pogba.
Asked about Pogba's recent comments about Real Madrid, Zizou said,
“He has always said that, after Manchester, Madrid has always interested him,”
“So when his experience at Manchester ends, why not come here to Madrid?”
Meanwhile, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer quashed any notion that Pogba will not be a Real Madrid player beyond the summer. He said,
“Players are available all the time as well and it’s a different environment, a general talk.
“Paul is a very nice and polite man who then answered a general question on Zidane, who is an icon in France, a fantastic manager and used to be a fantastic player and he’s just politely answered that question. But Paul’s happy here, he’s going be a big part here and you like to build your team round him and that hasn’t changed at all.”
Antoine Griezmann willing to take pay cut to join Barcelona
Latest reports suggest that Antoine Griezmann came quite close to joining Barcelona last summer before deciding to stay put at Atletico Madrid. Now, as per various sources including Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona have once again initiated contact with Antoine Griezmann's representatives.
Eric Abidal has reportedly already talked to Griezmann about his interest in moving to the Camp Nou. There are also suggestions that the World Cup winner is willing to take a cut in order to join the Cules.
With players like Malcom not coming to their own at Barcelona and Luis Suarez showing signs of his age wearing him down, they are looking to strengthen on the attacking front and bringing in a player of Griezmann's quality will be quite a statement.
Griezmann had come close to joining Manchester United while Jose Mourinho in charge but decided to stay put as Atleti were handed a transfer ban.
