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Football

08th Aug 2017

Philippe Coutinho has told Liverpool that he wants to leave for Barcelona according to reports

Not the news that fans wanted to hear

Darragh Culhane

Coutinho

It could be happening…

Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho has told the club that he wants to leave for Barcelona according to ESPN.

According to the sports site, sources close to the player have told ESPN Brasil that the talisman wants out from Merseyside and join the Catalan club.

Barcelona now need someone to fill the void left by Neymar after his world record transfer move to PSG last week and have long been admirers of the Brazilian.

The Catalan club has reportedly had a number of bids rejected for the player over the course of the summer and this latest news is the biggest indicator that the 25-year-old could be set to depart the Merseyside club.

Coutinho reportedly informed Jurgen Klopp of his desire to leave and they will now have the reevaluate their stance of not selling the prized attacker.

The Daily Mail is also reporting that Barcelona have upped their efforts to bring the former Internazionale player to the club after sending three club directors to Liverpool in an effort to secure the transfer.

After reporting that bids of £72m and £80m down it now looks like an increased bid along with Coutinho becoming vocal that he looking to leave the club could be enough to secure their top target.

The Brazilian did not feature in Liverpool’s victory over Athletic Bilbao with a reported sore back and missed training today for the same reason.

Liverpool opens their Premier League campaign against Watford on Saturday afternoon at Vicarage Road.