Arsenal are already in contact with Philippe Coutinho’s entourage, with Mikel Arteta hoping to sign the player on loan for next season.

Spanish outlet Sport (via Sport Witness) claim Arsenal are in contact with Coutinho’s entourage, and Mikel Arteta likes him very much. Arteta knows the player’s qualities well and believes he could have a big impact next season.

The plan is to take the player on loan with a possible option-to-buy in 2021. Barcelona are only looking to sell, but may consider a loan if they can’t do so. They want €90m for a permanent deal, so I’d say there’s a good chance that avenue falls through.

The La Liga club will be hesitant as a result of what happened this season. Coutinho had a solid year with Bayern, scoring nine goals and assisting eight in 32 appearances. Yet they didn’t even seem to consider their purchase clause for very long.

Barcelona won’t want the same thing to happen again this year. Perhaps they’ll accept giving a loan-to-buy deal one more shot, due to the extenuating circumstances this summer. But only if they feel it might actually result in a permanent sale this time.