Philippe Coutinho has completed his season-long loan move from Barcelona to Bayern Munich, who have an option to make the deal permanent for €120million.
LaLiga champions Barca revealed the potential future fee is on top of an initial €8.5m loan payment.
The figures fall short of the €160m deal that Barca negotiated with Liverpool in January 2018.
Coutinho’s switch from England to Spain attracted plenty of fanfare but he failed to deliver on expectations and spent periods out of Ernesto Valverde’s preferred XI last season.
Barca are reported to have offered the midfield misfit to Paris Saint-Germain in a player-plus-cash exchange for Neymar.
Premier League clubs Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham were also linked with the former Inter man, but Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said the 27-year-old expressed firm interest in a move to Allianz Arena.
“Philippe made it very clear to us during the negotiations in Barcelona that he absolutely wanted to move to Bayern,” Salihamidzic said.
“He’s a world-class player with great ability, who we can deploy in a number of positions in our forward line, so the Bayern squad has gained even more quality.
“Philippe Coutinho will help us achieve the ambitious targets we’ve set for this season.”
https://t.co/dYTK6kjTJB pic.twitter.com/Sz7LTFwNvw
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) August 19, 2019
An exciting scorer and provider at Anfield, his chief responsibility under Niko Kovac will be to fill the creative void left by James Rodriguez’s return to Real Madrid after a two-season loan spell.
Coutinho said: “For me, this move means a new challenge in a new country with one of the best clubs in Europe.
“I’m very much looking forward to that.
“Like Bayern, I have big ambitions and I’m convinced that I can achieve them together with my new team-mates.”
On Sunday, the Bundesliga club sealed the signing of French midfielder Mickael Cuisance from Borussia Monchengladbach on a five-year contract, while Ivan Perisic joined on loan from Inter last week.
The three new additions further reinforce Kovac’s squad following the departures of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery at the end of the last title-winning campaign.
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