Reported Newcastle dream signing ‘gets shaken very easily’, claims pundit

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With Newcastle United on the verge of a potentially lucrative takeover, numerous high-profile players and coaches have been linked with the Magpies, with fans hoping they will have a huge transfer budget going forward.

One such player said to be on Newcastle’s radar is Philippe Coutinho, with Brazilian outlet Metropoles claiming the Barcelona-owned player is the Magpies’ “dream signing”, as their prospective new owners look for marquee acquisitions.

Coutinho is on a season-long loan at Bayern, having struggled to impress at the Camp Nou since joining from Liverpool for £130million in January 2018, and according to Mundo Deportivo (print edition, front page, 30/4/20), the Catalans want 100million Euro (£87million) for the Brazilian.

However, Brazil and Bayern hero Giovane Elber – a pundit for Das Erste – isn’t convinced by his compatriot’s mentality, telling Goal.com: “I think he’s a person who gets shaken very easily when things aren’t going so well. He’s not a person who thinks, ‘I’m Philippe Coutinho and I’m going to fix this.’

“It’s different from one person to another but, during my time, we had some players – Roque Santa Cruz, the Paraguayan, for example – who were like this. There are people who think ‘I’m going to nail this game’ and there are others that get shaken. I think Coutinho lacks some aggression. It’s a shame because he’s a great player.”

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Coutinho is a player of the highest calibre who simply doesn’t appear to be the right fit for Barcelona, but he has proven quality at the highest level, including in the Premier League.

Given his potential availability, his undoubtable quality and the fact Newcastle could soon have a budget the envy of the football world, he would be a superb – and fairly realistic – acquisition.

While Elber is concerned about Coutinho’s mentality, a great man-manager – and there are some very good ones being linked with Newcastle at present – would surely be able to instil confidence in him and get him back to his best.