Liverpool have rejected a huge £114million bid from Barcelona for midfielder Philippe Coutinho.
The offer for the Brazilian playmaker included a further £5m in add-ons which was instantly rejected by the Anfield club.
Jurgen Klopp’s side are refusing to budge, despite the 25-year-old formally submitting a transfer request last week, after seeing the bidding rise from £72m to £90m and now move past the £100m mark.
Their stance is that Coutinho will remain a Liverpool player this season, having only agreed a new five-year deal worth more then £200,000 a week last January.
But Barcelona, who claimed this week that a deal for Coutinho was close, are increasingly desperate to land the Brazilian after selling Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for a world-record fee of £198m.
Barcelona were also crushed 5-1 on aggregate by bitter rivals Real Madrid over the two legs of the clubs’ Spanish Super Cup final last week.
Coutinho has yet to play for Liverpool this season after suffering a back injury.
The 25-year-old missed their opening Premier League game at Watford and Tuesday’s 2-1 Champions League play-off win against Hoffenheim.
He is also expected to be absent for Saturday’s clash at home to Crystal Palace. Liverpool could hand a debut to Scotland left back Andrew Robertson, an £8m signing from Hull City.
DailyMail.co.uk
