Arsenal and Tottenham could be set to go head-to-head to sign Ba4rcelona star Philippe Coutinho in January.
The former Liverpool star is very much surplus to requirements at the Spanish club, who are beset by problems on and off the field,
Coutinho is currently on £200,000 a week, but so desperate are they to get some of his wages off their books, that Barcelona are willing to subsidise half of that to any club who will take him on loan.
Coutinho has never shown for Barcelona the form that persuaded the Catalans to pay Liverpool up to £142 million for him in January 2018.
Instead, he spent a season on loan with Bayern Munich but failed to impress enough there for them to exercise their option to make the move permanent.
He has made three appearances from the bench so far this season for Ronald Koeman’s beleaguered side, and remains under contract with them until June 2023.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.