Paulinho: 'Philippe Coutinho will not regret joining Barcelona'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 27 December 2017

Paulinho: 'Coutinho won't regret Barca move'

Paulinho claims that Philippe Coutinho has no reason to fear a big-money switch between Liverpool and Barcelona should a transfer go through next month.

Paulinho has again urged Philippe Coutinho to join him at Barcelona and has joked that his teammates are already house-hunting for the Liverpool midfielder.

Coutinho has been heavily tipped to make a big-money switch between the two clubs in January, having failed to force through a transfer earlier this year.

A number of Barca players have already commented on the potential move, with Paulinho among those hoping to see his Brazilian compatriot in the Blaugrana strip in the coming weeks.

Paulinho, who himself swapped Guangzhou Evergrande for Barcelona in the summer, is even willing to eye houses in the city ahead of Coutinho's likely transfer.

"The city already knows of his passage through Espanyol, I talk about the facilities, and the training, the group, the way the group received me that was spectacular," he told Mundo Deportivo.

"I make jokes that people are already looking for a house for him. I try to give him the basic information, the most important for him and his family, because maybe the time he lived here was not enough to know the city.

"But he knows that Barcelona is a very good city, that offers everything for him and his family. I would advise him to be calm, to leave any anxiety aside.

"I also went through that when I was in China. You have to think about the decision you are going to make. I think that if he has the opportunity to come, he won't regret it."

Coutinho took his Premier League goals tally for the season to seven in 13 outings when opening the scoring against Swansea City on Tuesday afternoon.