PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN are ready to smash the world-record transfer fee after making a £239MILLION bid for Philippe Coutinho, according to reports.
And they hope that a blockbuster move for the Barcelona star will persuade his Brazil team-mate Neymar to stay.
Mundo Deportivo
PSG have launched a £239million bid to sign Philippe Coutinho, according to Mundo Deportivo
Mundo Deportivo claim PSG have made the offer to Coutinho’s agent Kia Joorabchian.
The moneybags Parisian club expect to be rejected and told to meet his £354m buyout clause.
In fact, they are ready to take the same approach used to sign Neymar.
PSG lured Neymar, 26, from the Nou Camp to Ligue 1 after paying his £198m release clause last summer, having failed with a number of lower bids.
AFP or licensors
PSG hope that by signing Philippe Coutinho, Neymar will not move to Real Madrid
AFP or licensors
Philippe Coutinho and Neymar both crashed out of the World Cup with Brazil in the quarter-finals
EPA
Neymar has shone since his £142m move from Liverpool to Barcelona
The report claims Coutinho already turned down more lucrative offers from both the French champions and Real Madrid to sign for Barca from Liverpool in a £142m deal.
The Brazil playmaker, also 26, shone at the World Cup but crashed out to Belgium in the quarter-final.
PSG hope Coutinho’s arrival would keep Neymar out of Real Madrid’s clutches.
He has been linked with a stunning return to La Liga with Barca’s rivals – and Cristiano Ronaldo’s proposed Juventus transfer would leave them with a huge void to fill.
PSG could stand to lose either Neymar or £166m France striker Kylian Mbappe due to Financial Fair Play rules.
Uefa’s decision to close an investigation into their accounts has been effectively reopened after the chairman of the Club Financial Control Body’s investigatory chamber referred the decision to the body’s adjudicatory chamber.
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