Barcelona (AFP)

One less bargaining chip: FC Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho, who was happy at Paris SG and could have been traded with Neymar, was officially loaned Monday to Bayern Munich. This relieves the Catalan finances, but it complicates the soap opera "Ney" ...

- Coutinho, here the exit -

This is called stopping costs: 18 months after paying EUR 120 million (and 40 million bonuses) to snatch Coutinho from Liverpool, the most expensive rookie in his history, Barça preferred to give the Brazilian a season at Bayern to that he can restore his health.

The operation had been stalled on Friday by the Catalan club, which confirmed Monday it would receive 8.5 million euros for this loan, with a non-mandatory purchase option set at 120 million euros . "The Brazilian international spent his medical visit on Sunday and signed his contract," confirmed Bayern.

Despite two Championships and a Coupe du Roi won, Coutinho has never adapted to the sacrosanct blaugrana passes and leaves Barcelona in a failed situation: "Coutinho, history of a huge disaster", titled Monday the daily newspaper Catalan sportsman Sport.

"For me, this change represents a new challenge in a new country with one of the best clubs in Europe, and I'm really looking forward to seeing that, like Bayern, I have big ambitions," Coutinho responded.

In Bavaria, he will have the difficult task of succeeding the two veterans Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, who left late last season. "This is the kind of reinforcement we needed," Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer insisted, as several officials had asked for arrivals.

- Barcelona, ​​the budget says thank you -

In Barça, the departure of Coutinho is a sporting but also an accounting relief.

The Brazilian had one of the highest salaries in the squad: about 12 million euros net according to the press (23 million gross euros), and Barcelona confirmed that Bayern would take charge.

What a little lighten the accounts of the Catalan club, under tension due to an insane payroll (EUR 40 million net per year for the only Lionel Messi!) And recent recruitments of Antoine Griezmann (EUR 120 million) and Frenkie de Jong (75 M EUR and 11 M EUR bonus).

Admittedly, the amount of the paid loan paid by Munich is lower than initially mentioned in the Spanish press (it was about EUR 20 million). But the departure of Coutinho allows Barca to save on some bonuses he should have paid to Liverpool.

- Neymar, the blur thickens -

Since the meeting that took place last Tuesday in Paris between PSG and Barça, nothing has changed around the transfer of the Paris star, who left the Catalan club with a crash in 2017 in exchange for the record sum of 222 million EUR. .. before sharing in recent weeks his desire to return.

For lack of cash, Barça does not seem able to offer the price requested by the PSG without including one or more players in the transaction, plus a sum of money, says the local press. And Coutinho, which was consensus between the two clubs, is now out of the equation.

"Frenzied bargaining," said Monday Sport, ensuring that Barca remained "optimistic". The daily "Mundo Deportivo, meanwhile, writes that" Neymar continues to hope for Barça "despite the interest of Real Madrid, which has cash, a good relationship with the PSG and prepares a" counterattack "in this file, according to the newspaper As.

But nothing is simple: Real failed to get rid of Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez, two large salaries of the workforce. And coach Zinedine Zidane, who is said to be reluctant to recruit "Ney", confirmed Saturday that Bale would stay in Madrid and he was counting on James.

The sequel to the next episode of Neymar telenovela ...

© 2019 AFP