Premier League side offered the chance to sign Barcelona playmaker – report

Barcelona’s financial struggles are well-documented at this point, and the less said about them, the better. With less than half a month left till the summer window closes, the club is still attempting to get rid of several players on its payroll, with their costliest signing ever — Philippe Coutinho — on top of that list.

As they look for exit doors for the Brazilian, it has been reported by Mirror that West Ham have been given the chance to sign him on loan.

Coutinho’s agent, Kia Joorabchian, has been in talks with the London outfit in an attempt to get the deal on its way. His good relationship with the club, spanning back to Carlos Tevez’s and Javier Mascherano’s move to West Ham, could help in the transfer as well.

West Ham have qualified for the Europa League after an impressive 2020/21 season but have not made any reinforcements to their attack. They were touted to sign Jesse Lingard, who had an excellent second half of the season with the Hammers, but the move seems to be off at this point.

For all his injury troubles, Coutinho could be a fairly solid addition to David Moyes’ side, fitting in the attacking midfield role in the 4-2-3-1 deployed by the Englishman. It would also give the chance for Said Benrahma to move wide, creating a very fluid offensive unit.

The former Liverpool man was dropped from the squad list against Real Sociedad for the league opener, and his #14 jersey given to Rey Manaj. It is barely a coincidence that the other two players not called up — Samuel Umtiti and Miralem Pjanic — have been rumoured with exits as well.