Liverpool emerge as SHOCK favourites to beat Man Utd & Chelsea to £80m transfer

Liverpool have reportedly become the surprise favourites to clinch the transfer of Barcelona attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho.

The Brazil international only left the Reds for the Catalan giants a year and a half ago, but has had a nightmare spell at the Nou Camp.

It has, however, been suggested that Liverpool could re-sign Coutinho due to a buy-back clause, though this was never officially confirmed.

Manchester United and Chelsea have been most strongly linked with the 26-year-old as reports in Spain claim he's desperate for a move away from Barcelona this summer.

Still, the latest is that Liverpool have been priced as the 5/1 favourites to be Coutinho's next club, according to the Liverpool Echo.

Liverpool are favourites to re-sign Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona

This would certainly be a shock, but LFC could perhaps do with a signing of this type as they arguably never really replaced Coutinho.

They haven't exactly needed to with the form of the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, but they still lack a real number ten, so spending £80m to bring back a player who was a world class performer in his first spell at Anfield could well prove a masterstroke.