Club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge made an announcement regarding the German giants' option to buy.

Premier League clubs have received a huge boost in the race to bring Philippe Coutinho back to England. The Brazilian ace is currently at Bayern Munich but his German employers have announced that they have decided against exercising their option to buy.

The Bundesliga giants secured the Selecao ace’s service from Barcelona on a season-long loan with the option to purchase. However, club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has confirmed that the clause has officially expired and that the board opted against making his stay permanent.

Barcelona, who were looking to recoup the fee they spent on the South American, offered the Bavarians the option to buy the former Liverpool man for $85M,  a far cry from the $192.7M they splashed to lure him away from Anfield. Regardless, Bayern Munich passed on this opportunity, stating that Coutinho has not done enough to warrant a permanent transfer.

"The option expired and we haven't activated it," Rummenigge said to German magazine Der Spiegel (as per AS). 

"We're going to plan our squad for next season and we'll see if he still has a role to play with us or not."

The 27-year-old enjoyed a bright start to life in the Bundesliga and appeared destined to overcome his Camp Nou failure. However, the attacker failed to shake off the inconsistency that plagued him at the Blaugrana and thus quickly fell out of favor at the Allianz Arena. Despite contributing to eight goals and six assists in the German top-flight alone, Philippe has made 22 appearances but only 15 starts in 26 rounds.

This will come as a huge boost to the Premier League, with the likes of Chelsea, Man United, Arsenal, and Tottenham interested in bringing him back to England. The Blues are said to be the favorites but it should be noted that the Mirror claim Bayern Munich could agree another loan deal with Barcelona.

The Brazilian could be in action this weekend, with die Roten gearing up for a clash with Frankfurt on Saturday. The reigning champions resumed their season last weekend, marking the return of the German top-flight with a win over Union Berlin and will be keen on registering another victory in order to maintain – or add to – their four-point lead at the top.

 

Spieldetails, Ergebnis und ursprüngliche Sendungsinfo

Bayern München 5 - 2 Eintracht Frankfurt

Mai 23, 2020 12:30Allianz Arena (München)

Dieses Spiel ist zu Ende. Unten werden die originalen Live-Bilder dieses Spiels angezeigt.

Live-TV-Übertragungen und Streaming in United States

Fox Sports 1 USA
fuboTV
FOX Deportes
Bayern.tv
Foxsports.com