Barcelona are ready to move on from Coutinho, who they accept won’t sign during the January transfer window, reports Spanish outlet Don Balon.
Liverpool are not going to change our stance during the winter, despite multiple reports from Catalan media suggesting it’s a possibility.
Don Balon, thankfully, are accepting the obvious and claim that Barca are eyeing their former midfielder Thiago Alcantra instead.
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The 26-year-old was sold to Bayern in 2013, but that was because his game-time was limited due to Xavi and Andres Iniesta. With the former gone and the latter ageing, Barca’s midfield three would be mightily improved by capturing the star.
He’d play in one of the positions alongside Sergio Busquets though, so Coutinho would likely still be a target for Barca next summer with our Brazilian capable of playing in the front-three or centrally.
There’s no indication Bayern would sell, of course – or what kind of fee it would require to tempt them into doing business.
If Barca do buy Thiago, they might be less inclined to unsettle our no.10 in 2018, so we hope it happens.