Real Madrid to pull off stunning swap deal with Juventus, Manchester United begin talks to sign Barcelona superstar and more: Transfer Roundup, 12 January 2019

Manchester United begin talks to sign Philippe Coutinho

Philippe Coutinho has hit rock bottom at Barcelona. After initially impressing following his big-money arrival back in January 2018, Coutinho has cut a frustrated figure over the past few weeks. He has fallen down the pecking order and has lost his spot to Ousmane Dembele, Arthur and Arturo Vidal.

Several reports have now surfaced that claim that Barcelona are willing to sell Coutinho for the right price. They reportedly want a sum close to the £142 million they splashed to sign him last January.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Manchester United have opened talks with Philippe Coutinho's agent over a potential deal. The Red Devils have been monitoring Coutinho's situation closely and have already registered an interest in the Brazilian.

The report, however, also claims that Coutinho doesn't want to give up on his dream just yet and wants to fight for a spot in the team. He will only decide to leave if the situation doesn't change by the end of the season.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Sripad