Bayern will not sign Coutinho permanently

Bayern Munich will not exercise the option at their disposal to sign Philippe Coutinho on a permanent basis when his season-long loan with the Bavarians from Barcelona expires, according to Bild.

Coutinho arrived to Barcelona from Liverpool in January 2018 for a reported fee of €160 million, which if accurate, makes him the third most expensive player in the history of the game, behind Paris Saint-Germain’s acquisitions of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. However, during the 18 months he spent at Camp Nou he wasn’t able to prove his worth to head coach Ernesto Valverde. Though Valverde has been replaced now by Quique Setien, Coutinho’s situation is likely to remain the same if he returns in the summer.

And yet, it appears that exactly that will be his fate when the season is over, with Bayern Munich set to repeat the James Rodriguez feat – the Colombian spent two years there on loan from Real Madrid, at the end of which he was forced to return to the Spanish capital.