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Gossip: Coutinho 'rejects PSG', Barcelona 'target Griezmann', Man Utd 'don't want Bale'
If you were planning to go to your best mate’s birthday party, but then you got an invite to Lionel Messi’s birthday party on the same night, what would you do?
Obviously in an ideal world you wouldn’t want to let down your best mate, but could you really say no to Messi? It’s Messi! His birthday party is blatantly going to be better than your mate’s.
Most of us will never face this kind of dilemma, but one man who apparently has is Philippe Coutinho. And surprise, surprise – he chose Messi.
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In this instance, the best mate in question is Neymar – Coutinho’s special Brazilian chum who has reportedly been trying to persuade the Liverpool playmaker to join him at Paris Saint-Germain since he moved there in the summer.
But according to the Express, Coutinho has said no to his friend because he wants to go to Messi’s birthday party instead.
It’s not only about the birthday party. Coutinho has “instructed his agents to rebuff the advances of PSG” because he has his heart set on a move to Barcelona, with Messi the “main factor” in his decision.
But it’s pretty much a given that, once Coutinho is settled in at the Nou Camp, he will be invited to Messi’s birthday parties on an annual basis. Possibly not the intimate family ones, but at the very least drinks on La Rambla (provided it hasn’t been turned into a civil war zone by then).
As for the possibility of Coutinho staying at Liverpool, that is evidently so unlikely that the Express does not even deem it worthy of discussion.
Man Utd to miss out on Griezmann and Bale
Coutinho may therefore be concerned by reports that Barcelona are turning their attentions to Antoine Griezmann instead. Mundo Deportivo says Barca coach Ernesto Valverde is preparing an £89m summer move to snatch the French forward from the grasp of Manchester United.
And United apparently won’t be turning to Gareth Bale as an alternative. The Mirror says Red Devils manager Jose Mourinho has personally called Real Madrid to inform them he “doesn’t want” the Welshman.
Seems a bit unnecessary really. That’s like Zinedine Zidane calling West Ham to tell them he doesn’t want Mark Noble. Why phone up then??
The Mirror also makes the rather dramatic headline claim that Mesut Ozil’s hopes of a January move to United are “in tatters”, only to clarify further down the article that he still has every chance of moving to Old Trafford in the summer. Clickbait nonsense.
Elsewhere, Newcastle’s prospective new owners could target English trio Ross Barkley, Luke Shaw and Andy Carroll if they buy they club (Star), Real Madrid have drawn up a three-man shortlist of promising youngsters to replace Cristiano Ronaldo (Mirror) and Antonio Conte has flown into a potty-mouthed rage about a media “plot” to destabilise him (Guardian). A Chelsea manager talking about conspiracies against his team? That never ends well.
