Marseille want Barcelona's Philippe Coutinho?

Marseille are reportedly preparing to take advantage of Barcelona's financial situation by swooping for Brazilian attacker Philippe Coutinho.

The former Liverpool man - along with Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele - is a candidate for a permanent move away as Barca desperately seek to trim their wage bill before the new season.

Coutinho has failed to live up to expectations since arriving at Camp Nou for a nine-figure sum in 2018, and he has been frequently linked with a Premier League return amid reported interest from Arsenal, Everton and Leicester City.

The Blaugrana are now supposedly prepared to accept a fee of £20m for his services, and L'Equipe reports that Marseille are plotting an ambitious swoop for the 29-year-old.

However, the report adds that Les Olympiens could still struggle to pull together the right financial package, and Coutinho has also been linked with a return to Serie A with AC Milan.

The South American scored two goals and assisted two more in 12 La Liga appearances during the first half of the 2020-21 season, but a serious knee injury means that he is yet to play a competitive fixture since the turn of the year.