Arsenal agree deal with Real Madrid for €65 million-rated superstar, Barcelona make a decision on Coutinho's future and more: Transfer Roundup, 7 January 2018

Barcelona officially state that Coutinho will stay at the club

Coutinho is no longer a regular starter for Barcelona

There have been a flurry of reports hinting at a Premier League return for Philippe Coutinho. The midfielder has now been forced to warm the bench as Arturo Vidal and Ousmane Dembele reclaimed their spots in the starting XI.

It's been a month since Coutinho last started a LaLiga game for Barcelona. However, Barcelona have now given their stance on the issue and the club has made it clear that the Brazilian has a future at Barcelona.

Barcelona director Guillermo Amor revealed to Movistar,

"Coutinho's a player with a lot of experience, one of the best players in Europe and he is ready to play [for] five minutes or 90 minutes,

"He's a player that thinks more about the team than himself and there are no doubts about him being one of the best players in the world. He's always played well for Barca, he could play [every game] from the off.

"Barça signed him because he's one of the best in the world and he's going to give us a lot. He's got many years left on his contract and a lot to give to Barcelona."

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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