Chelsea boost in pursuit of Barcelona forward

 

Antoine Griezmann’s impending arrival at Barcelona will almost certainly force Philippe Coutinho to leave the club this summer, claims The Daily Mail.

 

Griezmann announced on Tuesday night he will leave Atletico Madrid at the end of the season and Barcelona are widely expected to snap up the 2018 World Cup winner.

 

Barcelona have already spent £65m to sign Frankie de Jong from Ajax and are in talks with the Eredivisie champions to pay a similar fee for Dutch centre-back Matthijs de Ligt.

 

The Spanish outfit will have no choice but to make some high profile sales in order to pass Financial Fair Play regulations and Coutinho is now right at the top of the list to go.

 

Barcelona only signed Coutinho from Liverpool in January 2018 and now stand to make a huge loss on their £142m investment.

 

Chelsea boost in pursuit of Barcelona forward

 

 

A Premier League return is the most likely scenario for Coutinho this summer but Barcelona are struggling to attract suitors for the Brazilian.

 

Chelsea are the current frontrunners but will not be able to sign the 26-year-old unless their FIFA-imposed transfer ban is temporarily lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

 

Coutinho is set to finish his first full campaign as a Barcelona player with fewer goals (five) than he managed in the second half of last season with the club (eight).