Sir Alex Ferguson believes Jurgen Klopp will play a key role in preventing Philippe Coutinho from leaving Liverpool for Barcelona.
The Brazilian is one of Barcelona’s top targets and the Spanish club have already had three bids rejected, including an offer worth £114 million.
La Liga’s transfer deadline ends on Friday evening and Barca are expected to make one final push for the Liverpool midfielder.
But Ferguson believes Klopp will play a crucial part before the end of the window.
‘I think strong management is crucial in this situation. Part of your job as a coach also is to educate your players’ character so they have a responsibility to what they’re doing,’ Ferguson said at the UEFA Elite Coaches Forum in Nyon.
‘Obviously, in some cases, that is changing a bit. It’s disappointing because I’m sure that, in the case of Liverpool, they did a very good job in making Coutinho the player he is today.
‘So, it’s a bit disappointing but you have to deal with it and the transfer window doesn’t help in that situation.
‘If it closed in July, Coutinho would have continued playing and it would have been gone. The matter would have been over.
‘The recommendation we look at is to close the window before the season starts, so everyone knows which players they’ve got and aren’t waiting to see what the first results are going to be.’
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