Manchester United, Chelsea decide against signing Barcelona star

Manchester United and Chelsea have reportedly decided against signing Philippe Coutinho on a temporary basis from Barcelona this summer.

The Brazilian has been fancied to return to the Premier League following the conclusion of his season-long loan deal at Bayern Munich.

A number of Premier League clubs have been informed over his availability on loan but United, Chelsea and Manchester City are not interested in signing him.

Leicester City, on the other hand, are not in a position to meet his £200,000-a-week wages and are thereby out of the race to acquire his services.

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are among the other high-profile teams in the running to sign him and the former are regarded as the favourites.

Coutinho has bagged nine goals and eight assists from 34 outings for Bayern and he is expected to feature in their Champions League campaign next term.

He has missed the majority of the games since the restart due to an ankle surgery and has made only two appearances off the bench across all competitions.