FC Barcelona are reportedly close to buying Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho for a club record fee as the Catalans look to fill the void left by Neymar’s world record move to Paris Saint-Germain. The Spanish giants already had an interest in Coutinho prior to Neymar’s 222 million euro ($262 million) transfer to Paris last week. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp told Barcelona “to save their energy” last week, claiming the player wasn’t for sale. Coutinho already has La Liga experience on the other side of Barcelona as he enjoyed a successful six-month loan spell at Espanyol in 2012. READ | Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez out of Premier League opener due to abdominal strainHe then joined Liverpool in January 2013 for just £8.5 million.

Source: Hindustan Times August 09, 2017 12:00 UTC