BAYERN MUNICH HAVE secured the services of Barcelona attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho on a season-long loan after he passed a medical on Sunday.
The Bavarian giants will pay Barca an €8.5m loan fee and look after the player’s wages for the 2019/20 campaign. They also reserve the right to purchase Coutinho on a full-term basis for a fixed fee of €120m.
The 27-year-old former Liverpool star scored 21 goals and registered 11 assists in 75 appearances for the Spanish champions.
Coutinho won two La Liga titles and a Copa Del Rey with Barca following his move from Merseyside for a fee worth up to €160m.
“For me, this move means a new challenge in a new country with one of the best clubs in Europe,” he said. “I’m very much looking forward to that. Like FC Bayern, I have big ambitions and I’m convinced that I can achieve them together with my new teammates.”
Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge commented: “We’ve been working on bringing in Philippe Coutinho for quite some time and we’re very happy that we’ve been able to complete this transfer. Our thanks go to FC Barcelona for agreeing to the transfer. With his creativity and outstanding skills, Philippe is a player who will immediately strengthen our attack.”
The club’s sporting director, Hasan Salihamidzic, added: “Philippe made it very clear to us during the negotiations in Barcelona that he absolutely wanted to move to FC Bayern. He’s a world-class player with great ability, who we can deploy in a number of positions in our forward line, so the FC Bayern squad has gained even more quality. Philippe Coutinho will help us achieve the ambitious targets we’ve set for this season.”
#ServusCoutinho! 👋😊🇧🇷
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) August 19, 2019
➡️ https://t.co/dYTK6kjTJB pic.twitter.com/Sz7LTFwNvw
“FC Barcelona would like to thank to publicly thank Philippe Coutinho for his commitment and dedication wishes him all the best in this new stage of his career,” read a statement from his parent club.
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