Kia Joorabchian: Coutinho won’t join Juventus

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 19 May 2021 11:06 BST
• 2 min read

The agent of Barcelona flop Philippe Coutinho has poured cold water on reports that his client is set to join Juventus in January.

Coutinho signed for Barca from Liverpool in January 2018 for a fee that could reach as high as €160 million as a replacement for Neymar, who the summer before had joined Paris Saint-Germain for a world record fee.

However, the Brazilian has been a huge disappointment at Camp Nou. After struggling in his first 18 months at the club, he was loaned out to Bayern Munich last year but once again played a bit-part role in their treble triumph.

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Despite enjoying some more game time this season, the Spanish media is adamant that Barca want to offload Coutinho in January in order to save money and help fund moves for Eric Garcia and hopefully Memphis Depay.

Juventus have been put forward as a possible destination due to the good relationship Barca have with them which saw Arthur and Miralem Pjanic swap clubs this past summer.

However, as this Football Transfers feature explains, a move to Juventus is unlikely to be appealing to the Italian giants both for financial and tactical reasons.

And Coutinho’s agent Kia Joorabchian has also dismissed reports of a Juventus transfer, saying: “I have not heard anything and we have no plans on moving away from Barcelona.”

Coutinho started and scored in Barca’s 4-0 win over Osasuna on Sunday.