Antoine Griezmann announced the end of his relationship with Atletico Madrid and all this could spell trouble for Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho.
The Brazilian international is expected to be shown the Camp Nou exit door to make way for Griezmann. Coutinho’s agent, Andrea Bertolucci, however, denied all speculations.
“It’s untrue that Griezmann is going to replace Philippe at Barcelona. I don’t know why they are saying that. I don’t know about that, and that’s why I don’t want to talk anymore, but it’s false,” he told Spanish news publication, AS.
Coutinho has been distinctly poor for the Blaugrana this season. The 26-year-old’s lack of adaptability at the Camp Nou has turned the club’s supporters against him, some even whistling and jeering whenever he touches the ball.
This was not what Barcelona had in mind when they spent £142m on the attacking midfielder. Ernesto Valverde chose to bench Coutinho before the hour mark of both Champions League semi-final legs against Liverpool.
The Spanish champions are ready to pay Griezmann’s £108m release clause. He is expected to be the successor to Luis Suarez’s centre-forward spot even though the Frenchman can play in various other attacking positions.
With the way things stand at this point, it would be highly unlikely that both Griezmann and Coutinho will find a spot in the Barcelona starting lineup with Lionel Messi next to them. And it would be counterproductive to either record transfers on the bench rather than on the field.
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