Premier League superstar agrees 5-year deal with Real Madrid, Chelsea launch shock £101 million bid for Barcelona superstar and more: Transfer Roundup, 22 January 2019

Chelsea table £101 million bid for Philippe Coutinho

Coutinho could be on his way out of Barcelona

According to Don Balon, Chelsea are resigned to losing Eden Hazard at the end of the ongoing season and are already preparing for life after the departure of the Belgian. They have tabled a £101 million bid for former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho who has endured a tough 2018-19 campaign so far.

Coutinho was one of Premier League's finest players during his later years at Anfield and arrived at the Camp Nou amid huge fanfare. After enjoying a good start, his form deteriorated and his recent performances have evoked much ire from the Barcelona faithful.

A role in Sarri's system could be tailor-made for the Brazilian who has been struggling in Valverde's system of late falling below both Ousmane Dembele and Arturo Vidal in the pecking order.

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 Sripad