Arsenal may have been linked, again, with a move for Philippe Coutinho but the former Liverpool man is set to sign for Carlo Ancelotti at Everton if an exclusive in the S*n is to be believed.

BARCELONA, SPAIN - SEPTEMBER 16: Philippe Coutinho of FC Barcelona looks on during the during the pre-season friendly match between FC Barcelona and Girona at Estadi Johan Cruyff on September 16, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 16: Philippe Coutinho of FC Barcelona looks on during the during the pre-season friendly match between FC Barcelona and Girona at Estadi Johan Cruyff on September 16, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Arsenal have been linked with a move for Philippe Coutinho for a while now and rumours were starting to build that the club would go back in for him again this summer.

That seems like it will not be the case with The S*n reporting in an exclusive that Coutinho will sign for Everton for £35m.

The redtop report that Everton are so confident of the deal happening that they have already begun looking for a house for the 28-year-old.

It would certainly be something of a coup for the player to land on the blue side of Merseyside and while many Arsenal fans didn’t want to see the club sign Coutinho, there is no doubt he will bring plenty of quality to the Toffees, something Arsenal are sorely lacking.

Coutinho has only played 792 minutes for Barcelona this season, with three goals and two assists, as injury ruled him out for a large chunk of it.

Barcelona considered selling Philippe Coutinho last summer and Arsenal were really close at one point, according to respected journalist Fabrizio Romano.

There were reports throughout the summer that Arsenal might make a move for former Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho. The Barcelona player had done well on loan with Bayern Munich, but not well enough for them to activate their expensive option to buy.

At first, it looked like he hadn’t impressed Barcelona enough either, and they might let him go. Fabrizio Romano claimed Arsenal were really close to signing the 28-year-old at that stage, but the arrival of Ronald Koeman changed that.

“Before, Barca were considering to sell Philippe Coutinho and he was on the list to sell, so his agents were working to offer him to Tottenham, to Arsenal,” Romano told the Blood Red podcast (via Liverpool Echo).

“Arsenal were really close and at the start of August, they were ready. But once Koeman arrived, he understood it was difficult to sign other players, for example Memphis Depay.”

As a result, Barcelona held onto the Brazil international.

He appeared in their first six games of the season, scoring twice and assisting twice, before picking up a hamstring injury. Coutinho returned after two games only to rupture his outer meniscus, and injury that has kept him sidelined since the start of January.