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Philippe Coutinho to join Chelsea if their ban is lifted

Philippe Coutinho may yet return to the Premier League. If latest reports are to be believed, Chelsea are in pole position to sign the disgruntled Brazilian in the summer if their transfer ban is lifted.

With Eden Hazard tipped to depart in the summer, Chelsea will be stripped of a creative force and are now keen on filling that void with Coutinho who has had a difficult sophomore season in Spain. The former Liverpool midfielder has struggled to nail down a starting spot in Ernesto Valverde's team and is likely to depart in the summer.

Manchester United have also been linked with Coutinho. However, it remains an unlikely transfer as the Brazilian used to ply his trade for Manchester United's bitter rivals Liverpool.

Chelsea were handed a transfer ban for not adhering to the rules governing the signing of underage players. However, they have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and are all set to sign Coutinho if their transfer ban is lifted.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Kingshuk Kusari