Tottenham Put Off Philippe Coutinho Pursuit by Costly Barcelona Demands

If you were hoping that the endless Philippe Coutinho saga was about to be brought to a swift and (very) welcome end, I'm afraid you're mistaken - because it appears that Tottenham have been put off the scent by Barcelona's hefty demands.


It would appear the rest of Europe, not just La Blaugrana and Coutinho, are desperate for a conclusion to what's become one of the biggest sagas of 2020, as the Catalan giants persist in their efforts to push through some kind of departure.


View this post on Instagram

Sunday❗️? #bbqfamily

A post shared by Philippe Coutinho (@phil.coutinho) on

However, if they are to be rid of him they'll need to lower their asking price, at least in the case of Tottenham.


Mundo Deportivo report that Spurs have cooled their interest because of the monumental €100m price tag Barça have placed on Coutinho's head. Jose Mourinho is a known admirer of his abilities - to the point of envisaging his place in the side - but he and the club cannot commit to such a fee.


And if you thought a loan may be on the cards, that too appears to be, well, off the cards as far as Spurs are concerned. A €10m loan fee would be demanded by Barça, as well as a requirement to purchase Coutinho at the end of any given loan.


His salary would need dealing with as well, something Bayern Munich are familiar with having paid €8.5m for his season-long loan as well as covering the entirety of his wages.


Philippe Coutinho is interested in joining Tottenham.

It's no secret that Coutinho favours a Premier League return, but concerns in the Tottenham camp are that the high wages he would command would cause unrest within the rest of the squad and spark other wage packets to increase as a result.


It's been claimed that Coutinho would favour a move to north London, although at this stage it's a fair assumption to make that he'll take almost anything he can get. There were discussions over moving to Spurs last summer but they broke down, once again, over financial disagreements.



For more from Ross Kennerley, follow him on Twitter!



Source : 90min