Paulinho in contact with Philippe Coutinho over Barcelona move for Liverpool star

On the move? | The Coutinho to Barcelona transfer saga has no end in sight
Getty Images
Standard Sport28 December 2017

Barcelona midfielder Paulinho says he has made contact with Philippe Coutinho over a possible transfer to La Liga.

Liverpool forward Coutinho handed in a transfer request in August after La Liga leaders Barcelona had a bid for the Brazilian rejected, but the Reds turned down a further two offers, with owners Fenway Sports Group publicly stating he was not for sale.

The 25-year-old missed the start of the season with a back problem, but has been outstanding since his return and his stunning opener in the 5-0 Boxing Day demolition of Swansea was his seventh goal in as many games.

However, speculation regarding a Janaury switch to the Nou Camp for Coutinho has continued, and Paulinho - who joined the club from Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande in August - joked that a property search for Coutinho was already under way.

"I make jokes that people are already looking for a house for him," Paulinho told mundodeportivo.com.

"I try to give him the basic information, the most important for him and his family, because maybe the time he lived here was not enough to know the city, but he knows that Barcelona is a very good city, that offers everything for him and his family.

"You have to think about the decision you are going to make. What I think is that if you have the opportunity to come, you will not regret it."

Should any deal go through, Paulinho believes Coutinho will be a good addition to Barcelona's already impressive attacking options.

"He has a way of playing that everyone observes, both in Liverpool and in Brazil," he added.

"He is a very fast player, very agile. He gives many options for those who play in the centre of the field, pass options, also looks for free spaces to place the ball and go to goal.

"He can play in two or three positions and I think that will also help the coach and the players. Now I just have to encourage it to happen."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in