Liverpool were reportedly told by Barcelona that it would cost them £100m if they wished to re-sign former star Philippe Coutinho this summer.
As noted by BBC Sport, the Brazilian ace completed a move to the Nou Camp in January 2018 for £142m, but he has struggled to live up to expectations.
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With just 21 goals and 11 assists in 76 appearances for the Catalan giants, it hasn’t gone as planned for Coutinho in Spain, and with Antoine Griezmann arriving this summer, competition for places is fierce moving forward.
In turn, speculation has been rife over his future with Mundo Deportivo noting that he had been linked with a return to the Premier League, but will now remain at Barcelona for the forthcoming campaign.
However, further details of the interested parties has now been reported with The Sun claiming that Liverpool ended their pursuit of their former playmaker after being told that he would cost £100m, significantly more than what other clubs would have had to pay.
It’s suggested that bad relations exist between the two giants of European football, and so the reigning La Liga champions were set to demand a bigger fee from the Merseyside outfit if they were to green light a return to Anfield this summer.
As seen in the video below, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was asked about the situation in his press conference on Friday, and he replied with: “No answer”.
Some may well interpret that as an icy response given perhaps what is being claimed above and Barcelona seemingly pricing Liverpool out of a move to take Coutinho back to England.
However, that is perhaps looking too far into the situation, and ultimately Barcelona will now hope that Coutinho delivers this season. Meanwhile, Liverpool will believe that they have the quality and depth necessary to build on last year as they seek to add to their Champions League triumph and launch another title bid without their former star.
"Maybe you should go to Everton, they are more busy" ?
Jurgen Klopp has the latest on Liverpool's transfer business and whether he was offered the chance to sign Philippe Coutinho pic.twitter.com/qRdOQ8oR9G
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 8, 2019