Mikel Arteta has been given a good reason not to pursue Philippe Coutinho deal
Mikel Arteta has been advised against pursuing a deal for Philippe Coutinho because the Brazilian isn’t a player for a team at the stage of development that Arsenal is right now.
Reports have linked the Gunners with a move for the former Liverpool star as he remains unsettled since he moved to Barcelona.
He is on loan at Bayern Munich right now but the Germans will not sign him permanently which has opened the door for another team to pursue a deal for him.
Arsenal is one of several teams looking to give him a new lifeline in the Premier League, but they have been advised against that because Coutinho is the kind of player that completes a team that has been developed and not a player that can help to build a team.
Mikel Arteta is rebuilding this Arsenal team after a poor start to the season under Unai Emery and German football expert Rafa Honigstein claims Coutinho wouldn’t make any meaningful impact at the Emirates because Arsenal is still in the rebuilding phase.
“It’s hard to see Arsenal, with their financial situation, buying a player like him,” The Athletic journalist told The Redmen TV.
“It is true that their buying strategy has shifted a little bit, they are happy to go to so-called superstar agents.
“Coutinho’s looked after by Kia Joorabchian who is very well connected.
“But I think if you are trying to grow, if you’re a new manager trying to build a new team, Coutinho is never the first name that would come to mind.
“Coutinho is a player who in theory could’ve made a very good Bayern side that 10 per-cent better, to really help them. That was the thinking behind his loan move.
“But even then, the fact it is a loan move shows Bayern themselves weren’t entirely sure that he was really going to make a difference.
“And you have to say, on the evidence of the football so far, he hasn’t really been that decisive of a factor, which is why they will send him back after the loan period comes to an end this summer.”
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