Former Liverpool player Coutinho suddenly became available towards the end of the window as Barca were ready to loan him out and, understandably, there was no shortage of takers.
And, for the first time, we can reveal the real truth as to why a move to Tottenham fell down and the Brazilian ended up joining Bayern Munich instead.
Coutinho’s agent Kia Joorabchian told Mirror Sport: “Philippe Coutinho has no personal issue with Daniel Levy and claims otherwise are totally false. The deal did not collapse due to financial reasons.”
And the reality is that Spurs were ready to push ahead with the deal – but it was Mauricio Pochettino who decided against the transfer.
Levy looked at various deals last summer as the club were also linked with Paulo Dybala as Tottenham were keen to push the club to the next level.
Levy was willing to sign Coutinho and it was not him who decided against it and the player could have ended up at the club which would have been a hugely popular move with the supporters.
Coutinho would have fitted the bill as the 27-year-old was a huge hit at Liverpool and was one of the biggest stars in the Premier League before he left Anfield in 2018.
The deal with Barcelona was worth up to £142m and Coutinho was by then established as a world class player and one of the best on the planet.
Levy was ready to meet the demands and get the deal done with Tottenham having shown their ambition with deals for Tanguy Ndombele while Giovani Lo Celso also joined on loan before he became a permanent signing in January.
But the Coutinho deal fell down because Pochettino was ready to keep the dressing room equilibrium as he has always preferred to work with young players, develop them and has made his reputation as a manager without signing big names.
