Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona: Liverpool REJECT fresh £118m bid for star man

Posted Saturday, August 19, 2017 by Express.co.uk

Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona: Liverpool reject another bid from Barcelona

LIVERPOOL have rejected a fresh approach for Philippe Coutinho despite Barcelona breaking the £100m mark.

Barcelona are desperate to land Coutinho following the sale of Neymar and have submitted another offer only to see it rejected immediately by the Anfield club.

Liverpool remain adamant Coutinho will not be sold and have reiterated that by turning down another bid.

Barcelona made a £90m offer last week and this new bid is believed to have started at £118m with significant add-ons.

Jurgen Klopp said yesterday that the situation was unchanged and Coutinho would be staying.

He is currently injured and has missed both games so far this season and is out of the Crystal Palace clash tomorrow.

Coutinho handed in a transfer request last Friday after the club's owners FSG had made a public statement insisting he would not be sold.

Klopp had also spoken about his future and insisted he would not be leaving.

Earlier this week a Barcelona director claimed the deal for Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele was close, but Klopp refuted that.

And Liverpool have today hardened their stance by rejecting an increased bid for the 25-year-old.

Yesterday Klopp said: "I don't know why other people are saying what they're saying. I don't even know him. I have never met him.

"We have already said what we have to say. No news from me. Nobody told me anything different since we spoke last time.

"Since he had a back problem he is not in training. I have nothing bad to say about this. We are not silly, we know it is a very difficult situation - but there's nothing new to say.

"It's not always easy for me to say the 100 per cent truth, even if I don't like to lie. But this time this is the situation."

Barcelona are in crisis following the sale of Neymar and the injury to Luis Suarez.

They were beaten by a Real Madrid side missing Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Isco on Wednesday night and look a shadow of the side built by Pep Guardiola.

Lionel Messi has demanded new signings before he commits to signing a new contract despite agreeing a £500,000 a week deal.

And pressure is already growing on Ernesto Valverde and the board.

Neymar's sale has made the need for new blood even more desperate but so far they have struggled to get deals done.

Hector Bellerin and Marco Verratti proved unobtainable and now the Coutinho deal is proving difficult.