Madrid, Aug 17 (IANS): FC Barcelona have reached the "principal of an agreement" to loan Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho to German giants Bayern Munich.

Barcelona's Director of institutional and Sporting Relations confirmed the news while speaking to TV cameras on Friday prior to Barca's first game of the new Liga Santander season away to Athletic Club Bilbao for which Neymar was left out of the starting 11 and not included among the substitutes, reports Xinhua news agency.

Coutinho joined Barcelona from Liverpool in the summer of August 2017 to help cover for the loss of Neymar to Paris Saint Germain (PSG), but injury limited his appearances in his first season, while in his second season he struggled to convince coach Ernesto Valverde despite making 22 league starts.

Coutinho's destination is slightly surprising given that he has been mentioned as forming part of a deal for Barca to bring Neymar back from PSG this summer and the fact he is going to Bayern Munich either means PSG want other players (such as Ivan Rakitic and Nelson Semedo) in part exchange for Neymar or that the deal isn't happening.