Barcelona Offer $190M Star To Manchester United, City Ahead Of January Window: Reports

FC Barcelona have reportedly offered Philippe Coutinho to Manchester United and City ahead of the January transfer window.

Looking to add a forward to their squad during the winter market, Barcelona are believed to be interested in Manchester City's Ferran Torres and United's Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial. Barcelona CEO Ferran Reverter and football director Mateu Alemany visited both the Manchester clubs last week to discuss their interest in those players.

During those discussions, Barcelona offered former Liverpool midfielder Coutinho as part of a deal to lower City and United's asking price for those respective players, reported Spanish publication SPORT. Both the Manchester clubs have labeled their players at $91 million and are firm about receiving the full fee upfront.

Barcelona have also been linked with Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling, who has fallen down in Pep Guardiola's pecking order at Etihad Stadium. City are valuing the English playmaker at $60 million, according to Metro UK.

Considering Barcelona's reported debt of around $1.3 billion, the Camp Nou side can match the English clubs' demands neither in the January window nor the subsequent summer market.

It was earlier reported that Coutinho will not leave Barcelona in January as Xavi wants the Brazil national to play under his management before taking a call on the former's future.

Coutinho, who moved from Liverpool to Barcelona for $190 million, is the third most expensive signing in the history of the transfer market in soccer. Unfortunately, three years later, the ex-Reds midfielder is still struggling to seal a place for himself in Barcelona's squad.

Moreover, Barcelona want to offload Coutino mainly because of his hefty wages.

Coutinho made only 13 appearances in the ongoing campaign for the Catalans, across all competitions, and netted two goals.

Since Xavi's arrival, Barcelona have stepped up their game. The Camp Nou side is unbeaten in three straight games now, including two wins and a goalless draw. The two wins came in La Liga, where they defeated Espanyol 1-0 and Villarreal 3-1. These two triumphs have marked Barcelona's first instance of two straight league wins in the 2021-22 campaign, while the victory over Villarreal was their first away win this season.