Philippe Coutinho potentially joining Tottenham was one of the most talked about transfers of last summer.

Former Liverpool star Coutinho suddenly became available towards the end of the window as Barcelona were ready to loan him out… and, understandably, there was no shortage of takers.

And, for the first time, Mirror Sport can reveal the real truth as to why a deal with Tottenham fell down and the Brazilian forward ended up joining Bayern Munich instead.

The picture was even clouded still further this week when a report in Spain wrongly claimed Coutinho had been left frustrated with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy for not getting the deal done.

But Coutinho’s agent Kia Joorabchian told Mirror Sport: “Philippe Coutinho has no personal issue with Daniel Levy and claims otherwise are totally false. The deal did not collapse due to financial reasons.”

And the reality is that Tottenham were ready to push ahead with a hugely ambitious deal – but it was ultimately Mauricio Pochettino who decided against it.

Levy looked at various deals last summer as Spurs were also linked with Juventus Paulo Dybala as Tottenham were keen to build on their success and push the club to the next level.

Levy was willing to do the Coutinho deal and it was not him who decided against it and the player could have ended up in a Spurs shirt which would have been a hugely popular move with the fans.

Coutinho would have fitted the bill perfectly as the 27-year-old was a huge hit at Anfield and was one of the biggest stars in the Premier League before he left Liverpool in January 2018.

The deal with Barcelona was worth up to a staggering £142m and Coutinho was by then established as a world class talent and one of the best players on the planet.

However, for various reasons – and it is far from behind unheard of even with big deals – it did not work out as expected even if Coutinho did produce some excellent individual displays during his time, not least when Barcelona beat Tottenham at Wembley in October 2018.

Barcelona then decided to loan out Coutinho last summer and Spurs were definitely one of the clubs interested as they pursued some big deals.

Levy was ready to meet the demands and get the deal done with Spurs having shown their ambition with big money deals for Tanguy Ndombele while Giovani Lo Celso also joined on loan before his deal became permanent in January.

But the Coutinho deal fell down because Pochettino was keen to keep the dressing room equilibrium as he has always preferred to work with young players, develop players and has made his reputation as a manager without big names.

Ultimately, Tottenham did not get another superstar signing done in the closing stages of the window and the rest is history now with Pochettino and Jose Mourinho taking over.

Coutinho later joined Bayern Munich on loan in August with the German giants having the option to sign the Brazilian superstar on a permanent deal.