Barcelona Transfer News 2017: Liverpool Will Allow Philippe Coutinho to Leave
It seems that Barcelona may have finally made some headway in their effort to sign Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho.
According to Catalan news outlet Sport, the Reds have agreed to negotiate with Barcelona after a positive meeting between Barça, Coutinho's representatives, and Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group last Friday.
"Coutinho has not wavered in his desire to join Barça and has been encouraged by Barça telling his representatives that they would wait until the last minute for him," Joaquim Piera wrote in his report for Sport.
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"Coutinho's immovable stance has been a key factor in the transfer. Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool's manager, did not want to lose the player and told the club's directors that he could manage the situation. But as the days went by and Coutinho's stance did not change, the club were force[d] to reconsider," he continued.
Liverpool have rejected Barcelona's advances for Coutinho all summer long, but they are prepared to let the Brazilian winger/attacking midfielder leave once they sign a suitable replacement.
According to the report, the Reds are lining up Bayern Munich's Renato Sanches as his replacement, and the young Portuguese midfielder has allegedly asked the German club to leave him out of the squad during their match against Werder Bremen last Saturday.
Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has since confirmed that Sanches has asked to be left out of the squad because he wants to "think about his future."
Barcelona just broke their club record transfer fee last week when they signed Ousmane Dembélé from Borussia Dortmund for €105 million (around £97 million) plus a potential €45 million (around £41 million) in bonuses, but they will likely have to pay more to get Coutinho. In fact, Sport has reported that his transfer fee may be closer to €160 million (around £148 million).
Barcelona had to wait until the final weeks of the summer transfer window to sign their top targets, but it appears that they are being rewarded for their patience.
