Following Barcelona’s renewed, and rejected, £90.4 million offer for Philippe Coutinho, Jurgen Klopp has again insisted he is staying at Liverpool.
The Spanish side saw their second bid for the 25-year-old turned down on Wednesday evening, with the Reds holding firm on their stance that Coutinho is not for sale.
Given this would have broken Liverpool’s record fee for a player sold, this serves as a major statement of intent, despite Coutinho’s desire to leave for Catalonia.
The No. 10 is not expected to push for a departure, however, having signed a new five-year contract with the Reds in January.
And speaking Sky Germany on Thursday morning, Klopp was emphatic in his rebuttal, saying “there is no price limit to let him go.”
“Liverpool is not a club that has to sell players. That is set in stone. So what they pay in the end doesn’t matter,” he explained.
“From a financial standpoint, there is no price limit to let him go. No price at which we are ready to give in.
“Our goal is to have the best possible team. So we want to keep our guys and add new ones. That is our plan.”
Barcelona’s pursuit of Coutinho comes in the wake of Neymar’s £198 million move to Paris Saint-Germain, with the Liga side desperate to find a replacement for the forward.
But their timing is poor, as with just three weeks left before the end of the transfer window, Liverpool have little time to find a replacement for Coutinho, if they were to sell.
Klopp acknowledged this, saying it was “a question of timing” as much as it was a question of the importance of the player.
“Today, no player on the planet is untouchable,” he said, no doubt referring to Neymar’s world-record move to Paris.
“But a transfer is also a question of timing and if you have the opportunity and the need to react to such a transfer.
“Also you have to ask, if you have the time to react. But just because of one request of one club, we don’t have to think about that. We are not in that situation.”
Liverpool clearly don’t have any desire to sell Coutinho this summer and, crucially, don’t need to either, with Fenway Sports Group backing Klopp’s resolve.
It may be that Barcelona have moved on anyway, with another target, Borussia Dortmund winger Ousmane Dembele, failing to report to training on Thursday.
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