And the report says Arsenal have made arrangements to speak with Coutinho’s agent Kia Joorabchian to pull off the deal.

Meanwhile, former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf has urged his old club to ditch their pursuit of Coutinho and instead move for Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz.

The 20-year-old is one of the hottest properties in European football after scoring four goals in two games since the restart of the Bundesliga.

Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City are just some of the clubs that have been linked with Havertz, who is valued at more than £90million by his manager Peter Bosz.