NOU KOP SHOCK
Barca £120m January move for Coutinho
BARCELONA have turned up the heat on Liverpool and will bid £120million for Philippe Coutinho in the January transfer window.
Barcelona chief executive Oscar Grau said yesterday: ‘We are ready to buy Coutinho in the winter market, or any player the technical staff request. But it’s important to adjust ourselves. If there are to be arrivals, there must be exits.’
One player expected to leave is Andre Gomes. The Portugal international was set to join Tottenham in August and that move will be resurrected in January.
Keen on moving to the Nou Camp, Coutinho handed in a transfer request on August 11. Liverpool rejected three bids — the last of which was £114m — and made it clear they would not welcome any more interest that could unsettle the 25-year-old. That has not changed and Liverpool are furious about Grau’s latest comments.
SUPPORTING Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool has not been good for Kenny Dalglish’s heart this season. The kamikaze attacking football, the volatile German in the technical area and a much-maligned defence — only Crystal Palace and West Ham have conceded more goals — are taking their toll on the 66-year-old.
‘It’s really exciting, but it’s not good for your ticker!’ Dalglish tells Sportsmail.
The heart palpitations will only increase when Manchester United visit Anfield on Saturday in a match that, just eight games into the season, could have a significant effect on Liverpool’s campaign. Defeat will leave them 10 points behind their great rivals.
Yet Dalglish, for whom the occasion will be extra special when the Centenary Stand is renamed in his honour before kick- off and becomes the The Kenny Dalglish Stand, would not have it any other way. And he believes Liverpool fans agree with him.
‘ We’ve got the best fella in charge,’ he says. ‘He’s perfect for the club and the club are perfect for him. We appointed the manager because of the way he is. We’d rather score three and concede two than score one and win 1-0. His philosophy is attacking football and that’s what you get. If that’s who you’ve employed, that’s who you want. I think it suits the people of Liverpool.
‘He certainly knows how to get the best out of the players. Defensively every team goes through a spell of losing goals and they can’t put their finger on why; an unlucky bounce of the ball here or there. I don’t think it’ll continue.’
All the components for a combustible meeting are aligning: that defence against Romelu Lukaku, who has scored 16 goals in 13 games for club and country this season, two managers known for terrorising the touchline standing a few yards apart, two sets of rival supporters who despise each other. Enough to get the heart racing.
‘I’ve no problem whatsoever with the manager on the touchline,’ Dalglish says. ‘It’s enthusiastic, standing by the players and supporting them.
I’ve enjoyed watching him since he came in. He’s done fantastically well, brought belief back in every area of the club and I’m sure he’ll continue to do that and that belief will grow. He’ll start the success flowing back.’
The richness of a rivalry between two cities 30 miles apart derives from their domination of English football in successive decades.
Dalglish says: ‘Over the years if they have not been the best then they have been in and around the most successful.
‘The clubs now have a far greater standing and are much bigger corporations than when Fergie first came in at United.
‘The game has moved on and they’ve not stayed where they were, they’ve got bigger; that growth goes alongside the competitiveness and rivalry. I don’t think it will diminish at all.’
But Dalglish concedes that the two clubs’ grip on the game is a thing of the past, that English football will forever now be more erratic than Liverpool’s back line.
‘The days when one team wins everything in the Premier League are gone,’ Dalglish says.
‘You’ll always have five or six in there and success will move about. You have the Manchester teams, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham; apart from Arsenal all the teams are stronger than a few years ago.’
Dalglish struggles to recall a favourite memory between Liverpool and United from his time as a player. He plumps instead for the hat-trick Dirk Kuyt scored in 2011 — when Dalglish was back in charge at Anfield — which was the first treble by a Liverpool player against United since Peter Beardsley in 1990.
It doesn’t matter to Dalglish how the goals go in on Saturday, as long as they do. ‘It’s not like Ryan Giggs scoring in the FA Cup semifinal against Arsenal,’ he says.
‘Every goal we score is important if it means we get the points against them.’
Dalglish predicts a 2-1 Liverpool win. ‘I’m a wee bit biased,’ he admits, then openly runs through the reasons they can.
‘The manager, he’ll be key to us, he dictates things. Mohamed Salah has been an excellent signing for us. He looks very exciting and has scored a few. Having Philippe Coutinho back, he’s done extremely well. We’re pleased to see him playing so well.’
What about United’s key men? ‘I’ve not really noticed that,’ he says, chuckling. ‘Lukaku has got off to a great start, but I don’t know if he has such a good record against Liverpool. Let’s put his record up in front of him and keep our fingers crossed.’
‘I love his touchline antics but it’s not good for my ticker!’