Liverpool have left Philippe Coutinho out of their 23-man squad to Dublin ahead of their final pre-season friendly with Spanish side Athletic Club.
Coutinho has been heavily linked with a €100m move to Barcelona in the wake of Neymar’s world record move to Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil international has now miss Liverpool’s last two matches.
Jurgen Klopp is adamant Coutinho is not for sale at any price but there are growing reports in Spain suggesting Barcelona are on the verge of signing their top transfer target, who will miss Saturday’s clash with Athletic Club with a ‘sore back'.
Losing Coutinho would be a major blow to Liverpool’s ambitions of mounting a serious title challenge this season, particularly after it emerged Adam Lallana would miss the first three months of the season with a thigh injury.
In the last three Premier League campaigns only Christian Eriksen (231) has attempted more shots from outside the penalty area than Coutinho (199).
