Barcelona CEO reveals January bid for Coutinho, Latest Football News - The New Paper
Football

Barcelona CEO reveals January bid for Coutinho

Barcelona are ready to mount a new bid for Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho in January, the Spanish club said on Wednesday.

The Catalans made multiple attempts at signing the Brazilian earlier in the year but, according to reports, the Premier League club were holding out for 200 million euros (S$321m) and kept the midfielder.

Barcelona CEO Oscar Grau said the club have a record predicted revenue of 897m euros for the 2017-18 season, an increase of 189m on the previous year.

"We are ready to sign Coutinho or any other player the technical staff request in the winter window," Grau said.

"We want to have the most competitive squad possible. The club will be sustainable, we don't want losses. If that is the case, we will look for means to generate income."

Club president Josep Maria Bartomeu said last October that the club were targeting one billion euros in revenue by 2021.

Barcelona sold winger Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for a world-record fee of 222m euros in August, before spending an initial 105m euros on Borussia Dortmund's Ousmane Dembele.

"We're presenting figures for this season which are the highest of any club in the world," added Grau.

"No other teams, even in the NBA and NFL, reach these numbers. The club is on track to hit its target by 2021." - REUTERS

Philippe Coutinhobarcelona