Paper Round: Barcelona to make final £136m bid to woo Philippe Coutinho

It's Wednesday's Paper Round. Barcelona are apparently ready to offer Liverpool £136m for Philippe Coutinho as the midfielder remains away from training. 

Barca to make final £136m swoop for Coutinho 
Barcelona are set to make one final offer for Liverpool striker Philippe Coutinho – for a whopping £136 million, so says The Sun. According to the newspaper, the Catalans third and final offer would consist of £100m up front with add-ons of £36m. However, Liverpool may yet continue to play hard-ball over the 25-year-old midfielder’s future, having consistently denied they would accept offers.

Liverpool Midfielder, Philippe Coutinho

Our view: Before I go on with my view, are Barcelona aware that Coutinho have a contract to respect? If suing Neymar for not honoring a contract, even though his release clause was paid in full, what of Coutinho who has a contract with Liverpool?

That aside, Barca seems serious with the third bid on offer. You don't expect Liverpool to lose a top player like Coutinho for anything less than £100m. You sold Neymar for £197m and then bid £80m for Coutinho, thats not going to work. There are no cheap players in the market anymore and moreover no club can be bullied by the so called big club into selling their best player any more. You either stump up the big cash or nothing. But it remains to be seen if Liverpool will accept the new offer

Win the double, orders Mourinho
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has apparently issued a rallying call to his players to bag a double victory in the Premier League and the FA Cup this season. According to a report by The Sun, Mourinho also believes they should be aiming for the last eight in the Champions League after a strong start to the season. According to a club source: “He [Mourinho] has made them believe in what can be achieved and there is a real confidence in this squad they can do it.” 

Our view: Everyone knows what Mourinho is capable of doing in his second season at any club. He finally have a fairly United squad built in his own image. Winning the double this season? that will be a huge task. Mourinho and his squad are up to the task at hand so lets see what they can achieve come the end of the season. 

Under-fire Bilic livid over Arnautovic red 
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic had some strong words for club record-signing Marko Arnautovic on Tuesday night. Speaking at a press conference ahead of his club’s Carabao Cup tie, Bilic banged the table in anger as he said, of the 28-year-old’s brutal elbow against Southampton’s Jack Stephens on Saturday: “You can’t do those kind of things…I am fuming, still now.” 

Our view: Bilic and Wesh Ham supporters were left disappointed with the actions of the Austrian forward. And you maybe right to say, he cost the team some points. Bilic must find a way to instill discipline into the squad and ensure Arnautovic stay grounded and focused on whats at stake on the pitch. No doubt he will be a great signing for the club. 

Chelsea target Vardy 
According to reports on Tuesday, Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy could be taking his party to an altogether different location after it was rumoured that Premier League champions Chelsea were plotting a surprise bid for the 30-year-old. 

Our view: Not a bad target for Chelsea anyway. Arsenal courted him for much of last summer but only for him to remain with the Foxes to help them fight for the Champions League and maybe defend their title but it turned out to be a disaster which led to the sacking of Claudio Ranieri. His then teammate Kante was the only key member of the team that made a switch to Stamford Bridge last summer and that move was paid off with another EPL title. At 30, what does Vardy have left to offer at the top level? Maybe one more good season and after that, what next? shipped out to a Championship club? It would be better he remains with Leicester City. 

Of course, lest we forget, Vardy himself is a title-winning champion, so perhaps it wouldn’t be so strange to see the Blues make a move for him. But you all remember when Leicester won the Premier League – that was a weird year. Chelsea, you don’t have to do this.