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Chelsea 'will not move for Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho'

Chelsea 'will not move for Philippe Coutinho'
© Reuters
Chelsea will reportedly prioritise the signing of a new striker this summer rather than moving for Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho.

Chelsea reportedly have no intention of moving for Philippe Coutinho this summer and will instead prioritise the signing of a striker.

The Blues are considered one of the front-runners for Coutinho's signature amid reports that he will return to the Premier League following a disappointing spell at Barcelona.

The Brazilian is currently on loan at Bayern Munich, but the German champions are not expected to make the deal permanent and parent club Barca are also considering cutting their losses on the former Liverpool player.

However, Spanish journalist Guillem Balague claims that Coutinho will not join Chelsea as Frank Lampard's top target this summer will be a new striker.

"The story of Coutinho is quite simple. Bayern Munich are not going to renew the contract that they've got," Balague said on his YouTube channel.

"Does Lampard like Coutinho? Of course he does. Does he need Coutinho? He doesn't need Coutinho. So Chelsea are not going to go for Coutinho, they need a striker, that's their priority."

Chelsea have been linked with moves for Moussa Dembele and TImo Werner to provide extra competition for Tammy Abraham, while they are also thought to prefer Kai Havertz to Coutinho.

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