Reds to demand €150m as Coutinho eyes move
PHILIPPE COUTINHO is determined as ever to move to Barcelona this month but Liverpool will demand a fee in excess of €150m before even considering opening talks.
The opening of transfer business has brought a sense of deja vu at Anfield, Coutinho (right) making it clear he still wants to leave while Liverpool seek to protect the interests of the club.
Unlike last summer, there is a deafening silence on the issue of whether Coutinho will be allowed to go.
When bids materialised last July, Liverpool issued a statement insisting they would not sell.
This backed up private assurances that the 25-year-old would not be sold, with the player and his representatives informed of Liverpool’s uncompromising stance.
This time, Jurgen Klopp’s position has shifted and the hardline language last July and August is significantly absent. Not even the extraordinary gaffe of Barcelona’s kit suppliers, Nike, advertising Coutinho’s imminent arrival has provoked a strong response.
The messages are far more ambiguous, with Klopp insisting that the Nike incident “did not interest” him”.
Coutinho (right) feels more encouraged a deal might be struck.
Much depends on Barcelona’s stance, especially whether they are prepared significantly to increase their bids from last summer. It is not clear that the La Liga giants have the funds for such a huge deal.
Their last offer was €130m, but this was inclusive of numerous add-ons.
The likelihood of such an offer succeeding is unrealistic, especially in a market where Liverpool have just spent €85m for a centre-back.
Barcelona paid €152 million to secure Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele last summer and Liverpool would rate Coutinho at least at that level.
Liverpool knew this issue would be revived. Coutinho failed to play for the club during the last transfer window, citing a bad back.
He missed Liverpool’s win at Burnley on Monday with a thigh problem but has a chance of being fit for this Friday’s FA Cup tie with Everton. His injury is not serious.
Some reports in Spain claim Coutinho has no intention of playing for the club again.
That would take the saga into a sour direction, but similar claims were made last summer when a transfer request was placed. Coutinho later returned and produced some of his best form to help Liverpool into the top four and last 16 of the Champions League.
He would be giving up the chance to win the competition with Liverpool by leaving now, but even that has not persuaded him to wait until the summer.
The player’s determination to go therefore leaves Liverpool – or more pertinently Klopp – with a potential dilemma if Barcelona make a move.
Clearly the boss and the club’s owners would prefer the player to stay until the end of the season, but there is also pragmatism.
DWARFS
Liverpool will also point out that until another Barcelona offer materialises – a bid that dwarfs those five months ago – there is no decision to be made, regardless of Coutinho’s wish to move to Spain at the earliest opportunity.
Meanwhile, Barca’s record signing Dembele has been given the green light to return to action after almost four months on the sidelines.
Dembele managed just three appearances for the Catalan giants before suffering a hamstring injury against Getafe on September 16. The France star underwent surgery in Finland and has been working his way back to fitness since.
He has now been given the all-clear by Barca’s medical services, though, with a club statement saying: “After a lengthy recovery process from an injury to the femoral biceps on his left thigh, the 20-year-old Frenchman is now available for Ernesto Valverde.”
Barca are in action against Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey tomorrow before facing Levante in La Liga on Sunday, where they will try to consolidate a nine-point lead at the top. (© Daily Telegraph, London)