Liverpool’s position has reportedly remained unchanged with regards to Philippe Coutinho’s future, as he is not for sale amid interest from Barcelona.
The Brazilian playmaker has been a fundamental part of Jurgen Klopp’s plans since his arrival at Anfield, as he enjoyed another productive season last year.
Coutinho scored 14 goals and provided nine assists in 36 appearances in all competitions, with a troublesome injury preventing him from adding to his tallies over the new year period. Nevertheless, he still played a crucial role in getting the Reds back into the Champions League and will remain important moving forward.
According to ESPN, the 25-year-old is not for sale at any price as it comes after Barcelona reportedly made a £72m approach for him last week.
It’s added that Klopp held talks with him after that and all seems to be well, while it clearly hasn’t affected his performances on the pitch as he has continued to train throughout pre-season and produced a stellar display in the Premier League Asia Trophy final against Leicester City in Hong Kong.
With a five-year contract in place after he put pen-to-paper in January, Liverpool are in a strong position to keep him, or at the very least demand a huge fee from Barcelona to let him leave.
In turn, it looks as though the Catalan giants are going to be left disappointed in their pursuit this summer, as only Coutinho pushing for the move to the Nou Camp could have arguably drastically changed the situation.