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Premier League fantasy footballs tips: What could Arsenal transfer target Philippe Coutinho bring to the game this season?
- The Brazilian outcast has been linked with a move to the Premier League this summer
Rumour has it forgotten man Philippe Coutinho could be on his way to Arsenal from Barcelona this summer - and his Premier League return could be fantastic news for fantasy football fans.
The Brazilian was widely considered one of the best players in the league when he left the comfortable surroundings of Liverpool for the bright lights of Barca back in 2018 - but it's all gone horribly wrong for him in La Liga.
And now - with reporting that the midfielder "will return to the Premier League” this summer in a loan move to the Emirates - we're looking at how this could effect your Dream Team plans for the season ahead.
Coutinho was undoubtedly one of the Premier League's biggest stars only a couple of years ago, netting 54 goals and providing 45 assists in his 201 appearances for the Reds.
But since his move to Barca in January 2018, he's netted just 21 times in all competitions and has struggled to nail-down his own position at the club; often having to make do with being shunted around on the flanks and across the midfield.
For those of us who remember him for his sheer brilliance on Dream Team just a couple of years ago, it's been quite saddening to see.
For one thing, Coutinho's final haul of 168 points on Dream Team in the 2017/18 season was mightily impressive, considering he left the Premier League in January at the halfway point.
The fantasy football hero was also one of our most-expensive players on the game at the time; valued at a conking £8.8m before his departure.
Considering our two most-expensive players on the game this season - Sergio Aguero and Mohamed Salah - are valued at £7.5m ahead of the new season, that's quite something, isn't it?
As you know, we get all of our player metrics for the game from , and Coutinho has been a real hero of Dream Team's rating system over the years- although his overall rating of 6.93 in La Liga last season tells you all you need to know about his current plight.
In 2017/18 for example, his Premier League rating at Liverpool was a tasty 8.03, and was marginally bettered by his brief foray in the Champions League at 8.23.
In fact, during his time in the Premier League, Coutinho never finished a season with a rating lower than 7.0.
If the Brazilian ace does decide to move to England, we can see him becoming a big Dream Team favourite, not least because of his past-brilliance in the Premier League.
While we’re only guessing, we imagine Coutinho would set you back quite a fair amount - somewhere around £6.0m - which is the same as his possible future teammate at Arsenal Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
If you want to check the full list of player prices ahead of the release of Dream Team’s 2019/20 game, .
This season everyone who is everyone is playing Dream Team.
Alan Shearer, Alex Scott and Chris Hughes are just some of the celebrities to have their own mini-leagues which you can join.
Then all of Sun Sport's top reporters and journalists have their mini-leagues too, from Shaun Custis to Neil Ashton.
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