Chelsea ‘should be signing Coutinho’ says Glen Johnson
Arsenal will not be signing Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona this summer, according to European football expert Julien Laurens. Express Sport understands Chelsea are leading the way for Coutinho's signature. The former Liverpool star has been linked with a host of clubs after spending this season on loan at Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
Arsenal transfer news: Julien Laurens says Philippe Coutinho will not be joining the Gunners (Image: ESPN/GETTY)
"We could talk about it but there's no chance.
"It's not my one and the only thing that could make people doubt slightly is that Coutinho's agent is obviously Kia Joorabchian, who is very, very good friends and very close to Edu, the Arsenal sporting director, but that's where it stops.
"Arsenal cannot afford either a transfer fee, his wages, not even a loan, a paying loan or anything like this.
"There were already links last summer with Coutinho.
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"I don't think so, I think they should keep him," Laurens said on the Gab and Juls podcast.
"I know he sometimes makes mistakes, and he'll make more mistakes, I can tell you that now.
"I think he's been very important in the dressing room.
"You don't have to keep him playing every minute of every game."
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"You've got [William] Saliba coming in from Saint-Etienne, who I think will be amazing. You've also got a lot of other centre-backs.kia
"I think you can look at selling [Rob] Holding, [Shkodran] Mustafi and others, but keeping Luiz would be a good idea for the influence he had on the younger players.
"For the harmony of the dressing room, he's been really useful for that as well."
"Maybe you go to three at the back and play him as a sweeper... you don't have to keep starting him, but I'd keep him around for sure."