Liverpool boss refuses to talk about Coutinho’s future

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is not interested in being drawn into speculation linking Philippe Coutinho with a move to Barcelona but concedes there will be a time to talk about it.

Coutinho was keen to join Barcelona in the summer and even handed in a transfer request in a bid to force through a move to the Camp Nou.

Liverpool were adamant all the way through the summer that Coutinho would not leave and are now bracing themselves for January interest from Ernesto Valverde’s side.

However, there have been reports suggesting that could be out of Klopp’s control, with claims there is already an agreement in place for Coutinho to join Barcelona.

“I’ve no clue,” The Daily Telegraph quote Klopp as saying when quizzed about any potential agreement. “We will see. We don’t talk about things like this. Can you imagine what it would be like if I said ‘yes we have an agreement’?

“In this moment, the 100 per cent truth is that nobody thinks about this. We don’t talk about it, why should we? In both cases it would not make sense - no, there is no agreement, yes, there is an agreement.

“It is not important in the moment. We have other moments when we have to talk about these things but not in October. In general, as a club, we have to still create a situation where players want to be part of it with all they have.

“In this moment, we have this. Nobody thinks about January, nobody thinks of June or July. Everyone wants to be part of this but there will come transfer windows and we will see what happens.”

Coutinho has been in immense form since returning to first-team action in September after missing the start of the season. The Brazil international finished as the WhoScored Player of the Round in the midweek Champions League action after earning a perfect 10 rating in Liverpool’s 7-0 win away to Maribor on Tuesday night.

The 25-year-old is regarded as one of the best players in the Premier League and in four appearances this season he has scored twice and provided one assist. Furthermore, since the start of last season, Coutinho has scored more goals from outside the box (8) than any other Premier League player.