As far as weekends go, it was a pretty quiet one for Manchester United ahead of their trip to Dubai.
With FA Cup progress secured, the squad enjoyed a rare Saturday off. Daley Blind headed back to Amsterdam, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard wore matching jackets in Paris while Ander Herrera paid his favourite London restaurant a visit.
But, away from Carrington, there was a development which could yet have a huge bearing on United's summer and, indeed, Jose Mourinho's tenure.
Barcelona finally announced the signing of Liverpool talisman Philippe Coutinho for a whopping £142m, making him the second-most expensive footballer of all-time. Sorry, Paul.
Coutinho has been signed as the heir apparent to 34-year-old Andres Iniesta and it is hard to imagine him dislodging Lionel Messi to play in the left-wing role he excelled in at Liverpool.
With Ousmane Dembele fit and firing again, following a hamstring injury, Coutinho looks set to take up a role in Barcelona's midfield three with Iniesta and Sergio Busquets.
Having made £197m from the world-record sale of Neymar last summer, Barcelona have since spent £35m on Paulinho, £93m on Dembele, a fee which could yet rise to £124m, and now a further £142m on Coutinho.
But they will not stop there, as they put together the most feared frontline in world football, and Antoine Griezmann is top of their list.
Barcelona director Guillermo Amor only admitted last month that 'there may well have been an approach' already. Those comments have landed the Catalan giants in hot water after Atletico Madrid reported the alleged approach to FIFA earlier this month, but that will not dissuade them.
Griezmann's release clause stands at £178m until July 1 and it is unclear, officially, whether it reverts back to the original £84m figure after that. If so, expect teams to wait in a summer where the World Cup will take centre stage.
Read More: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/man-utd-transfer-barcelona-coutinho-14123807
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