Barcelona 'offer Coutinho loan deal to EPL clubs that would pay half his wages'

Barcelona have put Premier League clubs on alert about a potential loan deal for Philippe Coutinho that would see them pay half of his vast wages, according to reports.

The Catalan heavyweights are desperate to ease the financial restrictions that forced the departure of club icon Lionel Messi last week, and shifting Coutinho, who is thought to earn £200,000 a week, would considerably improve their bargaining power.

Former Liverpool playmaker Coutinho has also been offered to Serie A side Lazio, according to Gazzetta, which says that the Brazil star is reluctant to join the Italians because they will not feature in this season's Champions League.

The outlet claims that troubled Barca are trying to tempt the English contenders in the competition by offering to pay half of Coutinho's wages in a season-long loan move.

That could entice Liverpool, for whom Coutinho was the Fans' and Players' Player of the Season in successive seasons between 2014 and 2016.

At 29, the former PFA Team of the Year maestro is still in his prime, showing flashes of the brilliance he dazzled Anfield with when he moved to Bayern Munich for a season in 2019/20.

Coutinho tormented a clearly distraught Messi and many of his other teammates at his parent club by scoring twice and providing an assist after coming on as a second-half substitute in Bayern's 8-2 routing of Barca in the Champions League semi-finals that season.

The 2019 Copa America winner returned to the Camp Nou when Ronald Koeman became boss that summer, only to suffer a serious knee injury in December that kept him out for the remainder of the campaign.

Koeman has finally been able to confirm the registration of new signings Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia after agreeing another paycut with Gerard Pique ahead of their La Liga opener at home to Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Wideman Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, one of the club's captains, are in talks over lowering their wages following the shock of Messi moved to Paris Saint-Germain because his boyhood side could not meet Spanish spending rules.

New president Joan Laporta is attempting to reduce gross debts that have been widely publicised to be approaching a billion euros.