Barcelona pulled out of race for Philippe Coutinho after Liverpool demanded £178m for Brazilian star
President Josep Maria Bartomeu reveals why he swerved deal as he tried to replace PSG star Neymar
BARCELONA refused to meet Liverpool's huge £178million asking price for Philippe Coutinho.
The Catalans were determined to land the Kop playmaker after Neymar's word-record exit to Paris Saint-Germain.
But Barca pulled out of the deal as they realised Reds chiefs were refusing to cave in on their demands for the wantaway Brazilian.
President Josep Maria Bartomeu told TV3. “I will not say how much we offered, but they asked for €200m.
“We weren't going to give €200m or €150m - we decided to step away from such an expensive market, our offer was less than €100m, with add-ons it could have reached €120m.
“Money has come into football from outside the game and made (the transfer market) more expensive, which explains what happened with Coutinho.
“Neymar? Officially, we learned he was leaving when he told us. At the end of July we saw things weren't going well, but his father told us it was nothing.
“We believed his father’s word but there should have been more honesty, but we need to be self-critical.”
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Barca were slammed for signing Tottenham flop Paulinho and former winger Gerard Deulofeu following Neymar's departure.
They did shell out to land Ousmane Dembele from Dortmund - before seeing the Frenman ruled out for four months.
But Bartomeu defended the club's policy, adding: “There was a strategy in place for our summer.
“Paulinho? He was the midfielder we needed – a player with experience, a leader with the Brazilian national team - he will add a lot to our team.
“His showing at Getafe was excellent and there will be a lot more to come I am sure.
“Deulofeu? He has returned as a better player and now he can bring us what he has learnt and how he has developed.”
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