Barcelona Interest Cools on Coutinho

As reported by the Echo and some Italian news sources, Barcelona’s interest in Liverpool’s superstar Philippe Coutinho has waned. This following a constant rebuff of their attentions from the Reds, who insisted for weeks now that Coutinho would not be available at any price.

Your intrepid news-type people here have consistently pointed out what Klopp and others have re-iterated, which is that Liverpool have no reason to even do business with Barcelona on this matter. Coutinho is locked down on a generous, five-year contract, and the club has an overflowing war chest for their own use. Coutinho is also clearly a key component of Klopp’s vision for his team. Add to that the relative pittance that Barcelona offered the Reds to acquire their best player, and it was never likely to happen. Not this summer anyway.

Any hope that the Barcelona higher-ups may have held was surely dashed after the news that fellow Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana could miss up to the first three months of the season due to a thigh injury. Lallana’s absence and the corresponding hole in Liverpool’s squad has emphasized this team’s lack of depth, especially considering the packed schedule they’ll be facing.

Reports vary on who Barcelona have transferred their interest to. It’s clear that they will have to use the hefty fee they made from the sale of Neymar to pick up some new talent in order to appease their disappointed fan base. Paulo Dybala from Juventus has been a name bandied about, as well as Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembélé. Both are excellent players whom we here at TLO Headquarters couldn’t recommend to Barcelona highly enough.