Darren Bent has implored his former club Tottenham to do everything they can to sign Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho this summer.
As Football Insider details, Coutinho is expected to be available on loan again when the transfer market reopens, with Barcelona keen to get him off their wage bill and Bayern Munich unwilling to sign him permanently.
There have been contradicting reports on our interest in the Brazilian.
Football Insider reported last week that we had spoken to Barca and were happy with the £8m fee set to loan the £250,000-per week playmaker.
While Marca in Spain understands that Jose Mourinho has ruled out a move for the former Liverpool midfielder because of the finances involved.
However, Bent has urged the club to go “all out” for the 27-year-old, insisting that he is a low risk signing who could make a huge impact
“You’re talking about a top, top player who knows the Premier League very, very well. It’s not like you’re taking a risk,” Bent told Football Insider.
“Coutinho’s a top player, he’s a superstar signing that Spurs need and even if it’s on loan, that’s the sort of superstar that they need to maybe encourage other superstars to come there.
“For me, I’d go all out and pay that £8million, pay that and try and get him. £8million for a top player like him for a year? You take that risk because at the end, you never know, at the end of the year it might work out really, really well. He could transform Spurs into an absolute powerhouse of a team.
“I wouldn’t even consider it – I’d just do it.”
I’ve written a lot about Coutinho of late and think I’ve landed on a similar stance to Bent; he could be the best player available across the whole market this summer and if we can afford to sign him then we should.
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We can only be considered a club with an intent to win trophies if we start to sign players of Coutinho’s calibre. If the stadium was built to purely increase revenue without putting us on a par with the bigger English clubs’ signings, then it is a real waste of bricks and mortar. Whether it is Coutinho or not, Spurs need to sign marquee players year in year out.
He can come in for a pound a week less than Kane with an option to buy.
I read that Levy has shot down any Coutinho deal because of the wages, possibly other players would be looking for a an increase but more because the proposed £200,000 plus would set a benchmark for incoming players. Levy obviously wants to take advantage of this new situation to cut down any wages for any newcomers or even better to introduce the holy grail, a wage cap. It looks like a wage cap is coming for Leagues One and Two maybe even the Championship.