Where Philippe Coutinho is headed next will remain unanswered in the months to come, as hinted by his agent Kia Joorabchian, who admitted that to date the Brazilian has yet to hold formal talks with clubs reportedly interested in signing him. Also, the agent reported that Coutinho suffered an injury, which indicated he will be out of action when Bundesliga returns.
The playmaker is on loan with Bayern Munich for the season, and as stated by Joorabchian, "he's sidelined at the moment."
"He's had an injury, he had an operation two weeks ago on his ankle and he is six weeks for recovery for that, which unfortunately means he'll probably miss a chunk of the Bundesliga," Joorabchian told Talk Sport.
The agent refused to say when exactly Coutinho will return to the pitch. He added: "Hopefully he'll be fit for the tail end of the season."
As for the speculations on where the winger is playing next, Joorabchian can only say that "at the moment we have not spoken to anybody about any deals whatsoever."
Coutinho joined Barcelona from Liverpool in January 2018 but struggled to replicate his impressive performance at the Anfield. He found it difficult to make the Catalans' first-team for most of the 18 months he played in Spain before he was sent off to the Bavarians on a loan deal at the start of the season.
Even as Coutinho played better with Bayern, the German club has refused to make his spell in Bavaria a permanent deal. The chief reason likely for the hesitation is the £142 million price tag attached by Barcelona on the Brazilian star.
There are several clubs linked with Coutinho, but the most possible scenario so far is a return to the Premier League. In case of a comeback in England, the forward is thought to have a shot at a return to Liverpool, or he could sign up with Arsenal, Manchester United, and Chelsea.
The latter is the most plausible destination for the Barcelona outcast, and reports said Blues boss Frank Lampard is keen on signing Coutinho to another loan deal.
However, Jamie Redknapp has voiced out his concerns on Chelsea's plan to bring the troubled Coutinho over, saying the planned signing could stunt the development of Mason Mount, whom the former Premier League star described as "a top-class player," in the making.
Redknapp made clear though, that he is fully aware of Coutinho's quality as a player, but he advised Lampard that spending big on the Barca talent might not be worth the trouble.
"He's a super talented player but he doesn't get enough goals ... I like him, of course, he's talented but why would you want to risk Mount not having the opportunities he is," Metro reported the former England footballer as saying.
