Coutinho not up for sale: Klopp
London, Aug. 10: Coach Jurgen Klopp has warned Barcelona that Liverpool have no intention of selling Brazil forward Philippe Coutinho at any price.
Barca want Coutinho to replace Neymar following the Brazilian’s record £200 million transfer to Paris Saint Germain earlier this month.
The Spanish club are reported to have increased their bid for Coutinho to £90 million this week after two previous offers were rejected by the Premier League side.
Barca believe Coutinho can step in for Neymar alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in a star-studded front three, and could also provide cover for 33-year-old Andres Iniesta in midfield.
But Liverpool manager Klopp remains adamant the 25-year-old will stay at Anfield no matter what Barca are prepared to pay.
“We want to have the best possible team. This means keeping the guys we have,” Klopp told Sky in Germany.
“Liverpool is not a club that needs to sell. That is set in stone. So what they pay in the end doesn’t matter. From a financial standpoint, there’s no threshold of pain.”
Coutinho, who joined from Inter Milan for £8.5 million in 2013, signed a new five-year deal with the Merseyside outfit in January that did not include a buy-out clause.
Liverpool open the new Premier League campaign against Watford on Saturday.
But Coutinho could be sidelined with a back injury. Borussia Dortmund have rejected an initial offer from Barcelona for 20-year-old winger Ousmane Dembele, the Bundesliga club said on Thursda, saying a move was “not very likely” after they turned down an offer that did not reflect Dembele’s “extraordinary” value or the current state of the transfer market.