Arsenal will have to play the waiting game to sign Barcelona attacker - Reports

Arsenal will have to wait until Barcelona star Philippe Coutinho’s rehabilitation is complete in order to sign him this summer.

The Brazilian underwent an arthroscopic operation last month, and is expected to miss out on playing in the Copa America for Brazil in June.

Despite his nightmare spell at Barcelona owing to injuries and poor form, Arsenal are willing to bring the former Liverpool man back to the Premier League.

📰 [Sky Sports🥇] | Barça are understood to be willing to let the former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho leave the Camp Nou this summer, with Arsenal and Everton both reportedly interested pic.twitter.com/000GEhRjhN

— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) May 26, 2021

The Gunners are expected to face competition from Everton for Coutinho’s signature, but whether or not he will move to the Toffees remains to be seen.

The problem for Arsenal is that they will only be able to sign him in July, when he has completed another eight weeks of rehabilitation, as per Sky Sports.

Arsenal targeting Coutinho to add more creativity to their team

The Gunners are expected to sign a creative attacking midfielder this summer as Martin Odegaard is unlikely to stay at the Emirates.

Odegaard’s loan deal comes to and this summer, and with Zinedine Zidane no longer the Real Madrid manager, he will try to impress the new manager at the Bernabeu.

Arsenal will be a bit lighter in the attacking midfield department, with Coutinho being seen as a viable option.

Barcelona 'to axe 10 stars in summer clear-out' including Philippe Coutinhohttps://t.co/70urGlvQVc pic.twitter.com/AMmpUlb23Z

— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) May 25, 2021

While the Brazilian has struggled for form and fitness at Barcelona, his impressive loan spell at Bayern Munich proved that he can still be a good player if used properly.

Coutinho admitted after his spell at Bayern Munich that the Bundesliga is more similar to the Premier League, which could be one of the reasons why his form improved while he was with the Bavarians.

“I think that the Bundesliga is very similar to the Premier League in terms of the intensity of the games.

"The matches are always very even. Every team fights until the very end, for every single ball. Every ball is war. This makes the games very intense. There is not much space to think or to hesitate on the ball. Whereas in La Liga, teams tend to play more defensively against Barcelona,” Coutinho said.

Arsenal could certainly do with a player of Coutinho’s caliber next season as they look to bounce back after their worst season in 25 years under Mikel Arteta.