Espanyol swoop for Coutinho and Uche
Reuters - Monday 30 January 2012, 17:44
Espanyol have agreed to
sign attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho and forward Kalu
Uche to help boost their bid for a place in Europe next season,
the La Liga side said on Monday.
Brazil youth international Coutinho, 19, moves from Inter
Milan on loan until the end of the season, and Nigeria
international Uche, 29, signed a one-and-a-half year deal to
move from Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax.
"I want to help the team get into the Champions League,"
Coutinho told reporters when he arrived in Barcelona.
"I want to
get playing time ahead of the Olympic Games in London."
Espanyol, UEFA Cup finalists in 2007, are fifth in La Liga
and only kept out of the Champions League places on goal
difference by fourth-placed Levante.