Liverpool rejected an opening offer of £72 million for Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona on Thursday night with the message that he is not for sale this summer – at any price.
The Spanish giants, who earlier shelved their long-term drive for the Brazil international due to feeling it was ‘impossible’ from a financial and sporting perspective after he signed a new five-year deal without a release clause in January, have now been pushed into making their move following Paris Saint-Germain’s world-record pursuit of Neymar.
The French club are willing to pay €222m (£199m) for the forward – the exit fee in his contract – having considered Coutinho themselves in their ambitious recruitment drive.
That was evident in the way the Reds rebuffed Barca’s approach, with Jurgen Klopp re-iterating on Tuesday that they “will not lose a player we want to keep this summer.”
Coutinho is aware he is core to the manager’s ambitions, and his happiness at Anfield was confirmed by his preparedness to ink fresh terms at the turn of 2017 with no escape stipulation.
