Roberto Carlos agrees with Jurgen Klopp about Philippe Coutinho amid Arsenal transfer link

Arsenal have been linked with the Barcelona midfielder as Mikel Arteta searches for extra creativity in the summer transfer window.

Arsenal have been linked with a move for Philippe Coutinho this summer, with Barcelona reportedly keen to sell the Brazilian.

The midfielder is currently on loan at Bayern Munich but the Bundesliga champions have confirmed that they will not make the move into a permanent one.

Coutinho’s agent, Kia Joorabchian, has claimed his client would like a return to the Premier League – and Arsenal are one of the clubs touted as a potential destination.

“At the moment, with Coutinho he’s so focused on getting through the next stage of the Champions League,” Joorabchian told talkSPORT.

“The club that owns him, against the club he’s playing for. He’s in a massive situation. After the Champions League is finished, then we will sit down.

“I haven’t even spoken to him about it, actually. He loves the Premier League, He wants to come to the Premier League.

“But the finances and the numbers and the situation of COVID are all going to play a big part. He is a big player with big numbers.”

Coutinho enjoyed huge success under Jurgen Klopp during his time at Anfield, and the Reds boss has previously heaped praise on the midfielder.

“You cannot replace Phil Coutinho with exactly the same kind of player,” Klopp told reporters after the midfielder was sold to Barcelona.

“He’s Phil Coutinho. He has a specific style of play, tactically an outstanding player. He can play as the winger, the 10, the eight – really great.

“I don’t want to put one of my players in the position where people will say constantly, ‘He’s the Phil replacement.'”

Former Brazil and Real Madrid legend Roberto Carlos was similarly full of praise for Coutinho’s ability in the past.

Speaking during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Carlos told The Sunday People: “I love watching that guy play.

“He’s ­brilliant on the ball, obviously, but he’s clever off it, too, taking up good positions.

“Everyone speaks about Neymar, but Coutinho is proving that he’s also a ­massive player for Brazil too.

“When all the defenders focus on ­Neymar, he pops up and decides matches.”