Philippe Coutinho has given his opinion on Arsenal amid £33 million transfer U-turn

It's not so long ago that Arsenal were crying out for a bit of creativity in their midfield. As Boxing Day of 2020 approached the Gunners sat 15th in the Premier League having failed to win in seven matches and having scored fewer goals than every team in the division bar Sheffield United, West Brom and Burnley.

Luckily though the arrival of Emile Smith Rowe into the side helped spearhead a revival that begun with a 3-1 home victory over Frank Lampard's Chelsea side. Things instantly began to improve, but there was still an acceptance that more was needed in the squad to fashion chances for the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, particularly when Mesut Ozil left the club to join Fenerbahce.

As a result, when the January transfer window came along there were plenty of creative players linked with a move to the Emirates. Among them were Lyon's Houssem Aouar and Isco of Real Madrid, but the two names mentioned most heavily were those of Philippe Coutinho and Martin Odegaard.

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In the end the Gunners opted for the Norwegian, but given the links between Coutinho's agent Kia Joorabchian and Arsenal technical director Edu at the time, it did seem for a while that a move for the Brazilian might be a real possibility. Instead though he ended up staying with Barcelona.

However, when Odegaard returned to Real Madrid following his loan spell, a familiar crossroads appeared at the Emirates. An attempt to sign Emi Buendia from Norwich early in the transfer window proved unsuccessful and as the season began to approach quickly it appeared that once again there was a decision to be made between Coutinho and