Liverpool are bracing themselves for a British record £100m bid for Coutinho, as Barcelona look to flex their financial muscle.
With the departure of Neymar to PSG for £196 expected in the next few days, Barcelona are ready to come back with a new and improved bid for the Brazilian playmaker.
According to the Daily Mail, Neymar left Barcelona’s training ground within an hour of arriving on Wednesday morning.
Barcelona are looking to line up a replacement as quickly as possible in a bid to appease their fans, furious at the loss of the popular Neymar.
The Spanish club had a £72m bid rejected by Jurgen Klopp’s side earlier in the transfer window, and now expecting to break the British record in order to sign Coutinho.
Klopp still believes the club can retain the former Inter player. Speaking after Liverpool’s 3-0 friendly win over Bayern Munich, he said “I can understand that Coutinho is so highly rated, but they can save their energy.”
When asked earlier in the week regarding buying Naby Keita should Coutinho leave, the Liverpool manager said, “You formulate the question in a strange way. Where is the interpretation if you say he (Coutinho) is not available to be sold? The word “not” means there is nothing to interpret. It is nothing new from our point of view.”
Should Barcelona fail again in pursuit of Coutinho, reports in Spain suggest they could turn to Monaco’s Kevin Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele of Dortmund.