Liverpool have furiously denied telling Barcelona on Friday they would have sold Philippe Coutinho for €200m (£183m), reports ESPN.
Barcelona director Albert Soler sensationally revealed at a news conference on Saturday afternoon that Liverpool put a stunning €200m price tag on Coutinho in the dying embers of Friday’s deadline for Spanish clubs.
At that point, the Ernesto Valverde's side opted to walk away from a deal for their number one transfer target, but Liverpool have denied ever giving that impression to their European counterparts.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have insisted all summer that Coutinho would not be sold despite the player handing in a transfer request and reportedly refusing to train.
Liverpool even turned down four bids over the course of the summer and the last was thought to be worth €150m (£137.4m) including add-ons.
Coutinho has not played for Liverpool this season and was reportedly in tears on international duty with Brazil when he finally realised he would not be joining Barcelona.
Klopp must now attempt to convince the Brazilian to give his all for the Merseyside outfit for the rest of the season, although it remains to be seen whether he can be convinced to pledge his long term future to the club.
Of players that have scored at least 15 Premier League goals since August 2014, only Ross Barkley (6.4%) and Christian Eriksen (7.1%) have a worse conversion rate than Coutinho (8.1%).
