Barcelona have reportedly made a new £138 million bid for Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho, with the Spanish transfer window set to close on Friday.
Coutinho has been the subject of three failed approaches from the Liga giants so far this summer, with the Reds rejecting offers of £72 million, £90.4 million and £114.2 million.
But with the deadline for Spanish sides not until midnight (BST) on Friday, Barcelona still have time to potentially broker a deal.
And according to the Guardian‘s Ed Aarons, Barcelona “have made a new bid of £138 million” for Coutinho, corroborating reports from Sport.
The Spanish publication claim that this is inclusive of add-ons, with Aarons relaying that “Liverpool [are] still not expected to accept.”
Given the Reds failed to secure the signing of AS Monaco winger Thomas Lemar on the Premier League‘s deadline day, the chances of Coutinho departing are slim.
Liverpool signed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in a £35 million deal with Arsenal on Thursday, but allowed both Divock Origi and Ryan Kent to leave on loan, to VfL Wolfsburg and SC Freiburg.
This leaves Jurgen Klopp short of attacking options, suggesting Coutinho will be reintegrated into the squad after the international break.
The 25-year-old recovered from an alleged back injury to make his first appearance of the season in Brazil’s 2-0 World Cup qualifier win over Ecuador in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Coutinho replaced Renato Augusto just before the hour mark in Porto Alegre, interchanging with Man City striker Gabriel Jesus to fire home Brazil’s second goal in a comfortable victory.
That he was able to feature for Tite’s side undermines his absence from the Liverpool squad for the first five games of 2017/18.
It was widely believed that Coutinho was in fact not suffering from injury, but his appearance will leave a bad taste in the mouth for Klopp.
Speaking after Brazil sealed a first-placed finish in their qualifying group for next summer’s tournament in Russia, Neymar discussed his compatriot’s mood.
“I’m very happy because he has scored a goal and at this moment he is filled with great sadness,” he said.
“He really helped us in the victory—he is a great player, who is very important to us.”
Barcelona are unlikely to remain quiet throughout Friday, particularly as the Independent have revealed their motivation behind a move for Coutinho.
Simon Hughes claims that general manager Pep Segura has made it a “personal mission” to sign the playmaker, following his exit from Liverpool in 2012.
Fan Comments