Barcelona Eye Coutinho and Marco Veratti As Iniesta Replacement

Barcelona's Lionel Messi in action with Paris Saint-Germain's Marco Verratti.

Reuters / Christian Hartmann

Barcelona are chasing Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho and PSG’s Marco Verrati, according to reports in Spain.

Mundo Deportivo claim the La Liga giants have made the final call, it’s the perfect time to replace 32-year-old skipper Andres Iniesta. The Spaniard has been plagued by injuries and summer signings Andre Gomes and Denis Suarez have failed to fill the void.

This isn’t the first time that the Liverpool star has been linked with a move to Barca though, as several reports last year claimed that Liverpool had placed a £67m price tag on him to fend off interest from the La Liga outfit.

Spanish media report, Barcelona are now keen to bring in a proven world class midfielder, rather than waiting for talented youngsters to make the grade.

Along with Coutinho, PSG’s midfield sensation Marco Verratti is also a potential summer target, and the two players’ gigantic price tags will not put Barcelona off.

Verratti is suing French outlet l’Equipe for claiming he went out clubbing just two days before the Ligue 1 champions’ 6-1 drubbing at the Nou Camp. And some sources suggest the episode has irritated him so much that he is considering a move away from Paris.

Chelsea's Oscar in action with Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho.

Reuters / John Sibley

Meanwhile, Barcelona are quite impressed with Coutinho’s ability to bring the best out of Neymar. The two players had a wonderful partnership with Gabriel Jesus in a Brazil front three that hammered Lionel Messi’s Argentina 3-0 in November.

And Coutinho is well known at Barcelona after spending six months loan spell from Inter Milan at their city rivals Espanyol in 2012.

The Catalans could also try to bring back former star Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich.

 

Follow BlameFootball on Twitter and Like on Facebook

Leave a Comment





BlameFootball
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side.

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

Updated 25th May 2018