Liverpool and Barcelona not talking about Coutinho transfer

News broke today that Liverpool and Barcelona are not in negotiations over a transfer for Philippe Coutinho. The Brazilian looks set to stay at Anfield.

The presumption is that Philippe Coutinho’s move to Barcelona was delayed rather than abandoned last summer. Now it looks as if Liverpool will get to keep one of their key players. Spanish journalist Guillem Balague tweeted earlier that Liverpool and Barcelona are not in talks over the Brazilian.

Balague’s tweet translates as:  “On Coutinho: Liverpool has not put a price on the player. And Liverpool did not put a price on the player in the summer (the 200 million was invented by the intermediary). Today, Liverpool and Barcelona are NOT NEGOTIATING”

This news confirms other reports that Barcelona are ready to move on to other targets. Liverpool owners FSG took a firm stance against a sale in August; determined not to see a repeat of Luis Suarez’ move to the Catalans in his prime.

Since putting the summer transfer saga behind him, Philippe Coutinho has been in excellent form with 6 goals and 4 assists in just 10 appearances this term. He is enjoying his football at Anfield and is not sulking or pouting about his disappointment from earlier in the year.

Liverpool fans will now be most cautious about a PSG move for the ‘little magician’. The Parisian’s star player Neymar wants his international colleague to join him at club level after next year’s World Cup in Russia.

PSG have proved they have the financial muscle to make blockbuster deals happen. They bought the two most expensive player ever last summer. The Neymar deal broke the transfer record as PSG met his Barcelona release clause of £200 million. They then went and put together a deal for Kylian Mbappe of £170 million from Ligue 1 rivals Monaco.

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A player of Philippe Coutinho’s quality is always going to be in demand from Europe’s biggest spenders until the Reds win trophies.