Liverpool mid-field maestro Philipe Coutinho may leave the Merseyside before the close of the transfer market.
Liverpool have earlier rejected the transfer fee of about £72million offer for Spanish mid-fielder valued at £89million.
However, a report from a Spanish tabloid, Mundo Deportivo had said Philipe Coutinho held talks with Barcelona over a potential move and had agreed to terms “in principle” to join the Spanish giant.
Another report from the Catalan radio station RAC1 claim the 25 year old mid-field maestro had told Liverpool he wanted to join the Spanish giants this summer.
A report credited to Talksport has it that Barcelona would only sign Coutinho if Neymar leaves the Camp Nou as it seems the club is losing out with Paris Saint-Germain willing to smash the world transfer record by paying the Brazilian’s £199million release clause but if the Neymar move fails Coutinho will likely stay in Anfield.
Meanwhile, Liverpool boss, Jurgen Klopp, has insisted Philipe Coutinho is not for sale.
According to Klopp, “I have nothing to say about this, I’m sorry,” said the German.
“But, what I can say is that keeping the group together would make sense.”
Asked if it’s correct that Coutinho is not for sale, the Reds boss said: “Yes, that’s what we can say. But that’s not since this morning or yesterday, I’m not sure if it was different at any time. So, yes.
“I’m not surprised that any club is interested in players, if it is like this. A few people obviously see that Liverpool has a few good players. That’s how it is.
“But a very important message, maybe – we are not a selling club.
“We believe in working together, we believe in developing together. We believe in using the basis. We want to work together, we want to make the next step together and for this we need to stay together. That’s how it is.”
Klopp added, “Phil is a very important player, and we need to react better when he’s not on the pitch.”
“He was out for a few games [last season] and when he came back he was not in the best shape and he tried to get his rhythm back.
“With his quality…you want him on the pitch. So we have to be better in moments like that.
“With Phil, he can improve of course; there is a bit of inconsistency, but there’s no doubt about his quality – he is a very smart player in both offence and defensive parts of the game and that’s really important.
“He’s a really good player and the nice thing is that he is still young and he can still improve.
“He’s improved a lot already since I’ve been here and he was good before I came in.”
Philipe Coutinho is a great addition to the Liverpool team as his exit will surely affect Liverpool hope of silverware this coming season.
Whether this transfer will succeed or not is what football lovers cannot say for now.
