Barca prepare sensational Coutinho -Neymar swap

Neymar-Coutinho 

Barcelona are willing to sacrifice Manchester United target Philippe Coutinho to fund a return for Neymar, reports claim. 

The Brazil international is only a year into his contract at the Camp Nou following his £142million move from Liverpool last January. However, he has so far failed to justify the heavy price tag and Ernesto Valverde hasn’t started him in a La Liga match since December 2.

 The ex-Liverpool playmaker was viewed as a replacement for Neymar on the left with the potential to fill Andres Iniesta’s shoes but he has struggled to make those roles his own. Coutinho only played seven minutes in Barcelona‘s narrow 2-1 win over Getafe on Sunday and Manchester United are reportedly ‘in talks’ over a potential move which would cost in excess of £100million.

 In a fresh report, the Evening Standard claims that Barca want Neymar back at the club and Coutinho ‘could be the player sold to help raise funds for the move’. Neymar ‘would likely have to express his desire to return’ to Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain to give the green light following his €222m move to the Parc des Princes in 2017.