European giants open talks to sign Barcelona's Philippe Coutinho

Philippe Coutinho

Bayern Munich are in talks to sign Philippe Coutinho on loan from Barcelona, according to RAC1.

The Brazil international has struggled to live up to his £142m price tag since joining from Liverpool in January 2018.

Barcelona are willing to cut their losses this summer, and Coutinho was linked with both Arsenal and Tottenham before the Premier League's transfer window closed last week.

The La Liga champions also offered him to PSG as part of a proposed package which they hoped would see Neymar move in the opposite direction.

Bayern have now expressed an interest in taking the Brazilian on a year-long loan with an end-of-season purchase clause.

Coutinho has scored 21 goals in 75 appearances during his time at the Camp Nou.

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Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).