Arsenal linked star ‘does not see himself living or playing in Newcastle’
Barcelona star Philippe Coutinho “does not see himself living or playing in Newcastle” amid reports linking him with a move to Arsenal.
Coutinho has been linked with a return to the Premier League ahead of January. Arsenal and Newcastle are among those said to be interested in him.
The Brazillian made a name for himself with Liverpool between 2013 and 2018.
Arteta need not be tempted by Coutinho at Arsenal
He was named in the PFA Team of the Year in 2014/15 and he won Liverpool’s Player of the Year award on two occasions.
Barcelona paid an initial fee of £105m to sign Coutinho in 2018. This move has not gone to plan and he had a spell on loan at Bayern Munich in 2019/20.
The attacker has only started five times in La Liga so far this season. Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo (as cited by Sport Witness) are reporting that Coutinho’s team have “radically ruled out” a move to Newcastle.
This comes as the player “does not see himself playing or living in Newcastle”.
Newcastle were beaten 4-0 by Man City on Sunday. Alan Shearer said after the game that his former club made too many “stupid mistakes” against Pep Guardiola’s side:
“The way Newcastle defended, if it wasn’t my team I would say it was laughable! It’s anything but that,” Shearer said
“You can imagine what they’re saying in the dressing room beforehand, keep it tight for 20 minutes, we’re up against a great team today and don’t make any stupid mistakes.
“This (Martin Dubravka’s pass out for a corner) happens after four minutes, that’s the first mistake and you put yourself under huge pressure already. Then this happens (Dias’ goal) and it’s so bad it wouldn’t be in an Under 10s game.
“Clark, for whatever reason, decides to leave it, he needs to take control, clear his lines, do whatever he needs to do, but just don’t do this. You cannot leave the ball, it’s that simple. You can see Dubravka lip reading and saying ‘why did you stop, I didn’t say stop’.
“You’ve already given a world-class team the advantage and you’re already chasing the game.
“We’re going to look at all of the goals and I don’t care what position you are, midfield, attacking midfield, but that isn’t good enough, it’s a pathetic tackle from [Joe] Willock. [Isaac] Hayden slips and he should do better.
“But look at the two centre-backs, die for the club and put yourself in front of the ball, go and close someone down, stop Cancelo from having a pop at goal. It’s a wonderful strike, but you have to do better in those situations.”
