Bayern Munich have signed Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona on a season long loan, with the Bundesliga champions having the option to sign the player for €120 million during the loan.
In a statement on their website, Barcelona confirmed the news, saying, "FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich have reached an agreement for the loan of the player Philippe Coutinho to the German club for the 2019/20 season. Bayern Munich will pay 8.5 million euros and the player's wages. The agreement also sees an option to buy for Bayern fixed at 120 million euros.
"FC Barcelona would like to thank to publicly thank Philippe Coutinho for his commitment and dedication wishes him all the best in this new stage of his career."
Bayern confirmed the news in modern fashion, with a social media video of Coutinho arriving at the club's training ground to sign.
Speaking to Bayern's website Coutinho, who had been named as potentially moving to PSG as part of any deal to take Neymar back to Barcelona, said, "For me, this move means a new challenge in a new country with one of the best clubs in Europe. I'm very much looking forward to that. Like FC Bayern, I have big ambitions and I'm convinced that I can achieve them together with my new teammates."
Bayern's Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic talked about the player's desire to move to the Allianz Arena, saying, "Philippe made it very clear to us during the negotiations in Barcelona that he absolutely wanted to move to FC Bayern. He's a world-class player with great ability, who we can deploy in a number of positions in our forward line, so the FC Bayern squad has gained even more quality. Philippe Coutinho will help us achieve the ambitious targets we've set for this season."
The Brazilian midfielder moved to Barca from Liverpool in January 2018, after the Spanish side had failed in their previous attempts to sign him the summer before, but it hasn't worked out well at the Nou Camp.
Reports in England suggested the Reds were offered the chance to re-sign their former star but baulked at the £100 million price tag being asked by the Spanish champions.
Bayern have had a big summer with Lucas Hernandez, Benjamin Pavard and Ivan Perisic joining the team, who were in need of a revolution this season.
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