Following a long pause due to the catastrophic southeastern Türkiye twin earthquakes, the business climate appears to be on the brink of returning to normal as transfer speculations become more and more prominent, with Galatasaray reportedly targeting Aston Villa midfielder Philippe Coutinho to join their ranks at Nef Stadium.
Continuing their efforts in light of the extended interim transfer period, Galatasaray are readying themselves to make another statement signing, having already acquired the services of Nicolo Zaniolo.
As it seems, the Lions are the best-positioned club to grab the Süper Lig title this year after deposing their city archrivals, Fenerbahçe, a few weeks after the World Cup break and to add on to that, they are rolling up their sleeves to bolster their squad by knocking on the doors of the Villa Park to bring in the Brazilian star.
Ahead of this week's resumption of the league, Galatasaray camped in Antalya and played two friendly matches on Wednesday, drawing 2-2 with Gençlerbirliği in the afternoon, thanks to the dynamic duo of Mauro Icardi and Barış Alper, who each scored a goal.
In the evening, the Lions roared past TFF 1. Lig's Pendikspor 3-1 with goals from Berkan Kutlu, Yunus Akgün and Rashica.
Lo and behold, a new claim has emerged regarding Philippe Coutinho, with the Brazilian's name being linked to Galatasaray in the transfer market.
It has emerged from the British press that, with Corinthians' departure from the race, Galatasaray's prospects were greatly bolstered and the Yellow-Reds were getting ready to submit an offer to Aston Villa.
Rumors of the blockbuster transfer have been swirling, with Flamengo reportedly joining the race to secure the services of the Brazilian Samba star.
Coutinho's transfer is expected to be clarified in the coming days.
This season the Brazilian football player could not show the desired performance in the English Premier League.
Under Unai Emery, Coutinho has made 22 appearances in total but found the back of the net only once.
On Jan. 7, 2022, he reunited with his former Liverpool teammate, Steven Gerrard, who was by then the manager of English club Aston Villa initially on a loan deal for the remainder of the season.
His debut came a week later when he stepped in for French star Morgan Sanson in the 70th minute against Manchester United, scoring the equalizer in a dramatic 2–2 home draw in the Premier League.
In May of the same year, at Villa's End of Season Awards Ceremony, Chief Executive Christian Purslow announced that they had secured Coutinho on a permanent deal from La Liga giants Barcelona, for an undisclosed fee reported to be 17 million pounds ($20.49 million), with the player agreeing to a contract until 2026.
Besides being one of Barcelona's most expensive signings, Coutinho, whose current market value is 18 million euros ($19.10 million), has also played for Inter Milan, Vasco da Gama, Espanyol, Liverpool and Bayern Munich, with whom he won the Bundesliga and the UEFA Champions League titles.
In the English Premier League sphere, the Brazilian star is nicknamed the "Assist King" due to his remarkable ability to create goal-scoring opportunities with precise passes.
He was crowned Liverpool's player of the year for the 2014-15 season; a feat made even more impressive by 21 goals during his 69 caps for the Brazilian National Team.