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The Catalan club signed Coutinho this winter for £142m after a transfer saga in the summer. When Neymar departed the La Liga giants, Barca went in for Coutinho but had three bids knocked back by the Reds. Despite the Brazilian handing in a transfer request, the Merseyside outfit stood firm. After a lengthy transfer battle, Coutinho finally secured his dream move to the Nou Camp last week, but the  Telegraph  claim Liverpool have hit back at claims made by the Catalan club. But the war has not stopped as one of Barca’s chiefs declared that they secured the 25-year-old at a cut-throat price. Barcelona’s vice-president Jordi Mestre said: “The club has always been interested in signing Coutinho, the difference to last summer is that there was a big cut in price. “We won't state the numbers because Liverpool don't want us to, but there was a big price cut.” Although the true figure, including add-ons and promises, has not been revealed, a reported figure is £142m (€160m

According to reports, Crystal Palace have joined a host of clubs ready to snap up Francis Coquelin from Arsenal. The Gunners midfielder has fallen down the pecking order under Arsene Wenger this season. He was left out of the side that were dumped out of the FA Cup by Nottingham Forest on Sunday, but has made several appearances in both the Europa League and the League Cup. The Mirror  claim Coquelin’s absence is due to the player on the verge of a move in this transfer window. Arsenal are prepared to allow him to leave and value the midfielder at £10million. Coquelin, who still has three and a half years left on his contract, is being earmarked by West Ham, while Roy Hodgeson is also looking for someone to anchor his Crystal Palace side. The Frenchman is yet to receive a senior cap for his country, but has made over 100 Premier League appearances for Arsenal since emerging into the first-team in 2008.  

Former Germany, Arsenal and Bayern Munich star Lukas Podolski has unveiled a new project: a kebab restaurant in his longtime home city of Cologne. Around 1,000 fans turned up on Saturday to the opening of Mangal Doener, some arriving more than five hours early to catch a glimpse of their local hero, according to the player’s spokesperson. Podolski will run the restaurant along with two co-owners and the player posed in front of a kebab and signed autographs before turning his hand to cutting slithers off a huge slab of unidentified meat. Indeed, Podolski currently plays for Vissel Kobe in Japan and is only in Cologne to undergo treatment on a thigh injury. See more photos below:-

Lil Wayne And Drake’s “Family Feud” Freestyle Unsurprisingly Rockets Number 1 Some things change year to year, some remain the same. For instance, the inaugural weekly top ten of 2018 features upstart names like Tekashi69 and 300lbs of Guwop, but also industry stalwarts Lilwayne and Drake Both of the Young money mavens may have lost a bit of their star power in the past couple of years (or in Wayne’s case, the past decade) but when Weezy drops a new project, the majority of the world still seems to pay attention. Thus is the case with Dedication 6 and its outtake, “Family Feud.”

Like a kid whose strict parent wouldn’t let him join a group of kids in their outdoor play,   Kiss Daniel ’s music has been managed with strict restrictions. Seeing that his parent was distracted & the front door is guarded, Kiss Daniel sneaked out to join the play party.It’s a singing game out there and Kiss’ first offering as a ‘free kid’ is titled  No Do . You want to know what we think about it? Find it below and don’t forget to share your thoughts. Let’s converse. @ibironketweets – Kiss is perhaps the best talent in his class, his brilliance at serving musical varieties has earned him my appreciation. He is on the heels of  Wizkid  &  Davido  and perhaps one day, he too would don the robe of superstar. For him, exiting G-worldwide is a chancy adventure and I’d say having a low tone experimental start with  No Do , is wise. His fans can wait till 2018 to decide whether the exit is a blessing or a curse but with  No Do  he experimented, sampling classics brilliantly

One thing we understand about Mercy Aigbe is that she might be increasing in age, but she seems to be looking younger as her age adds up. Yes she is 40, but this A-list Nollywood actress would pass at any time for a lady in her early 20’s. Despite starting the year with controversies, which seemed to linger for more than a week, Mercy Aigbe is showing to the world that she has set that behind her and moved on with her life See another photo here:-

The Saudi Arabian government, on Monday, announced that sports stadiums in Saudi Arabia will open their doors to women to attend football matches for the first time ever on Friday. The statement said women would also be able to attend the second match on Saturday in Jeddah and a third one on Jan. 18, in the eastern city of Dammam. “The first match that women will be allowed to watch will be Al-Ahli versus Al-Batin in the capital Riyadh, on Friday, Jan. 12,” the ministry of information said in a statement. The kingdom, which has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women, has long barred women from sports arenas by strict rules on segregation of the sexes in public. A male family member, usually the father, husband or brother must grant permission for a woman to study, travel and do other activities. But the conservative kingdom has in recent months eased some of its most notorious restrictions on women, including the lifting of a driving ban set to go into effect in J