Coutinho set to join Neymar at Santos

Philippe Coutinho is set to sign for Santos as a free agent, with a contract running to the end of the season. Medical examinations are scheduled for Friday, according to ge; sign-off there would clear the way for the formal signing and a presentation to the Peixe support.

The move reunites him with Neymar, a friendship dating back to Brazil's junior sides.

Coutinho, 34, has been without a club since February, when he left Vasco da Gama and requested his contract be torn up to deal with his mental health. He had managed only seven appearances for Vasco this season, with three goals and one assist, and has not played a match since 14 February, a Campeonato Carioca fixture against Volta Redonda.

His career has taken in Inter Milan, Espanyol, Liverpool, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Aston Villa. Santos add him to a run of arrivals that has already brought in Arthur, Rodinei, Lima and Everton Cebolinha, signings made possible after the club cleared the transfer ban it had been operating under, helped by NR Sports, the agency owned by Neymar and his family.

Should the medical go as expected, Santos will have built a forward line around two players who came through Brazil's youth ranks together, though a short-term deal running only to the end of the season leaves little room for the club to plan much beyond that.