Philippe Coutinho 'performs U-turn on Newcastle United move'

Philippe Coutinho is reportedly now open to joining Newcastle United next year, having accepted that he does not have a long-term future at Barcelona.

The 29-year-old scored in his side's 3-1 win over Villarreal in La Liga on Saturday and has made 13 appearances in all competitions for the Catalan giants this season.

Coutinho is not believed to be in Xavi's plans for Barcelona moving forward, though, and the Brazil international is widely expected to leave Camp Nou either in January or during next summer's transfer window.

Newcastle have been strongly linked with the playmaker since their Saudi takeover was completed, but it had initially been thought that the South American was not prepared to consider a move to the Magpies.

According to El Nacional, Coutinho has now changed his mind on a switch to Eddie Howe's team and is now open to discussing a switch to St James' Park.

The report claims that the former Liverpool attacker is keen to secure a return to the Premier League and knows that he would receive a high salary by making the move to Newcastle.

Coutinho has largely struggled to impress for Barcelona since arriving from Liverpool in January 2018.