ARSENAL are reportedly set for talks with Barcelona as they look to seal an audacious loan deal for Philippe Coutinho.
The Gunners face the Catalan giants at the Nou Camp in the Joan Gamper Trophy tomorrow.
And Spanish publication Sport claim they plan to thrash out terms to bring the out-of-favour Brazilian back to the Premier League afterwards.
Coutinho left Liverpool for Barca in 2018 but has struggled to replicate his Anfield form since his arrival for £142million.
The La Liga side are willing to let him go this summer, but despite interest from Liverpool Manchester United and Chelsea, he looked set to stay.
However, today’s claim they are open to allowing him to go out on loan – and Arsenal have emerged as a shock contender for him
Emirates head of football Raul Sanllehi is allegedly due to lead the negotiations as he plots another transfer breakthrough for the cash-strapped Gunners.
Supporters appeared to be in for a summer of frustration after Unai Emery was handed a budget of just £45m to spend.
But Sanllehi has managed to secure the club-record capture of Nicolas Pepe for £72m – witrh payments spread to Lille over the course of his five-year contract.
That followed the arrivals of Gabriel Martinelli, William Saliba – who immediately rejoined Saint-Etienne for a year – and Dani Ceballos on loan from Madrid.
Now he may be about to pull another rabbit out of the hat if he can secure an agreement for the Samba star.
But Barca will demand a fee to borrow Coutinho – and with Emery desperate to bolster his backline, the club may decide to spend what is left of their kitty on a defender instead.
It was claimed elsewhere this morning that the attacker had already been offered to a Premier League club on loan.
And they were looking for around £27m from the prospective buyer.
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