Barcelona star Coutinho will join Bayern Munich on a season-long loan deal, despite the Brazil international being heavily linked with a move to PSG for most of the summer.
The Samba star was wanted by the Ligue 1 giants as part of a potential move for Neymar, who is eager to make a stunning return to the Nou Camp.
Coutinho will now join Bayern Munich instead, though, and Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo say Barcelona factored two things into their thinking.
Firstly, Barcelona could not afford to wait for PSG.
They wanted to resolve the future of the 27-year-old given the constant speculation.
Coutinho was wanted by Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United during the summer transfer window.
But all three clubs were unable to sign the Barcelona star, who has long accepted his time at the Nou Camp is over.
A second reason Barcelona offloaded Coutinho to Bayern rather than PSG was because the player himself wanted to move there.
PSG has never appealed to the former Liverpool star, who rejected a move to France in January 2018.
PSG have been left surprised at Barcelona’s decision to loan him to Bayern – especially given their interest in Neymar.
Barcelona want to bring the Brazil international back but, in the wake of Coutinho’s move to Germany, that looks difficult.
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s Marko Grujic believes Coutinho will be a huge hit at Bayern.
“It’s a big thing for the whole Bundesliga to have the possibility to see Coutinho play now,” the Serbian, who is on loan at Hertha Berlin, told Bild.
“He is a special and exciting player, he does crazy things.
“He got incredible tricks and skills in his locker. I enjoyed every training session with him in Liverpool.
“He will be by far the best footballer in Germany.”
Bayern have turned to Coutinho after missing out on various other targets.
Ousmane Dembele had been their radar – as well as Manchester City’s Leroy Sane – but they have since given up on the duo.
