Latest reports suggest that Liverpool will not part company with Philippe Coutinho until after the Champions League play-offs. The Merseyside club are involved in the final round of qualifying for the competition and want to keep their strongest squad together until they have negotiated their way into the group stages.
 

After this morning’s reports that Barcelona officials had flown into London to begin their quest to sign the 25-year-old Brazilian star, The Express claims that the Catalan side will be forced to wait until the end of next month to secure their primary summer target.
 

Having already had a £72M bid rejected by Liverpool, the journal believes that Barca will return with a figure nearer to the £100M mark in a bid to convince the Premier League side to part with the player who is now understood to have his heart set on a move to Catalonia. Should they manage to pull off the transfer after Coutinho has taken part in the Champions League qualifiers, then he would be unable to represent them in the competition until the knock-out phase.