Real Madrid and Manchester United to battle it out for €120 million star, Chelsea want Barcelona superstar as Eden Hazard replacement and more: Transfer Roundup, 7 February 2019

By Shambhu Ajith

Modified Jul 01, 2019 05:54 GMT

Chelsea want Philippe Coutinho as Eden Hazard replacement

Coutinho is struggling to make an impact at Barcelona

Chelsea are growing increasingly resigned to the fact that they will lose Eden Hazard in the summer. As a result, they are already cooking up contingency plans and prominent among them is a potential move for out-of-favour Barcelona ace Philippe Coutinho, according to the Independent.

As per the report, Chelsea are keeping an eye on the Brazilian whose future is growing increasingly uncertain at the Camp Nou after yet another dismal performance; this time in El Clasico where he was tipped to shine in the absence of Lionel Messi.

Manchester United have also been credited with an interest in the playmaker. Coutinho joined Barcelona in the winter transfer window of 2018 amid huge fanfare. He started brilliantly but ever since his form has faded and has hit disappointing lows.

Liverpool are not keen on taking him back to Anfield. However, Barcelona have now sent a message to the interested clubs. Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu told Marca,

‘We expect a lot from him [Coutinho],’

‘We do not want to sell him, he’s one of the good players we want to have.’

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 Ananthu Anil