Philippe Coutinho is now in Germany ahead of his season-long loan to Bayern Munich. Since his move from Liverpool to Barcelona in January 2018, the Brazilian struggled to fit in, but now he has a chance for a fresh start.
The 27-year-old had his personal terms agreed by the Germain club, who needed finalizations on some admin with the Spanish club. He is reportedly going to be announced officially as a Bayern player shortly, after being confirmed by Guillermo Amor, Barca's sporting relations director.
"I can confirm that there's an agreement in principle in the case of Coutinho's loan to Bayern," Amor told Movistar+.
Coutinho made an impact upon his debut in England by scoring three goals and five assists in 13 appearances. During his time in Liverpool, he accumulated a total score of 0.26 goals per game, as well as making 42 assists in all of his 203 appearances across all competitions.
Due to his impeccable performance at the Merseyside in England, he was moved to Barca last year for £142 million. Unlike his career in Liverpool, his time in Barca had not been as rosy, but it's clear as day that Coutinho has the qualities that would help him succeed at Bayern. But we're yet to see how he'll hold up this season.
Though being left out of Barcelona's opening day La Liga defeat at Athletic Bilbao, Coutinho was seen in the stands. On Monday, Bayern asked about a loan move, but the Spanish club were reportedly not interested until they could sign Neymar.
All summer, Coutino has been heavily linked with a move away from Nou Camp, but his departure could potentially end Neymar's dream of a Barca return. As for Paris Saint-Germain, they made it clear that Coutinho would have to be involved if they were to give away Neymar.
And with the Nou Camp side missing out on a transfer fee for the ex-Premier League star, it's far-fetched that they'd be able to come up with the funds to bring him back from PSG. Neymar also caught the eye of Real Madrid but the idea of coming up with £206m plus players was too much.
Coutinho joins Bayern Munich on loan for a season, until June 2020, for 20 million euros and Bayern paying his salary. The German side can buy him for 120 million euros at the end of the loan if they so wish.
