KOP CALM.. & CARRY ON

Phil rumours won’t derail us, says Klopp

JURGEN KLOPP says his in-form Liverpool side are focused enough to ignore the Philippe Coutinho sideshow.

The little Brazilian’s move to Barcelona this month is looking increasingly inevitable, but Klopp said his players are professionals who have learned to live with the intense transfer speculation that goes with life at a big club.

Klopp, who claims he has “no interest in Barcelona,” said of the Mersey men, who have lost just three games in all competitions this season: “They are professional football players. Sometimes they are in the middle of the story and sometimes they are sat next to the guy who is in the middle of the story. They are used to this and are used to ignoring things around them. If they are smart enough they ignore most of it.

“This story has been around since the summer and did you at any moment get the impression that this team is distracted because of transfer rumours?

“No. We are focused on what we have an influence on. All the rest we have to ignore.”

Klopp spent virtually all of his press conference before tonight’s FA Cup third-round showdown with Everton batting off questions about Kop star Coutinho, who may net the Reds up to £140million if he goes. “I am not interested in Barcelona. Sorry. It is always the same. This year it is Phil. Another year it is somebody else,” he added with a hint of venom.

“There is nothing to say until there is something to say.

“We have a saying in Germany: ‘The next day they will chase another pig in the village’.”

Klopp’s words were in stark contrast to his unequivocal statement last summer that Coutinho would be going nowhere.

It seems likely a deal with Barcelona will be struck after tonight’s FA Cup derby, in the nine days Liverpool have free before their next game, against Premier Leauge leaders Manchester City.