Philippe Coutinho in pre-season action (Getty)

Jamie Carragher says he’s had suspicions about Philippe Coutinho’s commitment to Liverpool since January.

The Liverpool legend’s comments come amid intense speculation that the Brazilian could be in line for a big-money move to Barcelona.

The Catalan club have retained an interest in the playmaker for some time and reports suggest they are ready to make a bid in the region of £80million.

The desire to sign him increased when Neymar’s proposed move to Paris St Germain was revealed. Coutinho would either be a replacement or a show of ambition to help sway Neymar to stay.

Neymar’s potential exit has intensified interest in Coutinho (Getty)

Carragher believes the lure of playing for Barcelona will be too big for Coutinho to ignore – although he is hopeful he will remain on Merseyside for one more season.

The former defender also admits he never expected Coutinho to see out his Liverpool contract, which was signed back in January.

‘Hopefully we can get 12 more months out of him,’ he told 5times.co.uk.

‘When he signed his five-year deal, I didn’t think that he would see it out.

‘There is no doubt that at one stage in his career Philippe will want to play for one of the Spanish giants as many of the South American players do.

‘Barcelona and Real Madrid are seen as the two biggest teams in world football who always have the best players.

Coutinho on Liverpool’s pre-season trip to Germany (Getty)

‘I think that Liverpool fans should really enjoy him over the next 12 months as if a big-money offer does come in at the end of next season and if the player wants to play for Barcelona then there is not really much LFC can do.

‘Let’s just hope we see him in a Liverpool shirt next season, which I think we will, and then let’s see where things go from there.’

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has consistently said Coutinho will not be sold this summer.

Klopp on selling Coutinho…

‘There are absolutely no plans. What our owners say is there is the absolute opportunity not to sell anybody if we do not want to.

‘That means we can bring in others players and it is a good situation.

‘We have a stable squad with a good basis. We want to bring a few in with fresh blood but nobody will leave us without our say, so I am completely relaxed about this.’

 

If the Brazil international were to leave the current transfer window would be perceived as a disaster for the Reds.

Only Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson and Dominic Solanke have arrived at Anfield so far this summer. Liverpool are understood to be working on other players but Carragher is not sure if Klopp’s targets will be secured.

‘To be honest, I think we were all hoping that we would have been a lot happier at the stage.

‘However, you’ve got to have patience. I’m sure the club are working 24/7 behind the scenes to bring players in, not only to keep the supporters happy, but to strengthen the squad for the big season ahead.

‘I mentioned a lot last season that our squad isn’t strong enough. Despite the first XI being very good, with Champions League football coming up the squad needs a few more additions and these numbers are yet to come in.

Klopp has been frustrated in the current window (Getty)

‘Saying this though, I think Jurgen Klopp is looking to bring in quality rather than quantity, which is something that I’m personally happy with too.

‘Regarding [Naby] Keita, I don’t think that Klopp will go out and buy another midfielder. I think he would be willing to wait until next season as supposedly Keita has a buyout clause.

‘I reckon the [Virgil] Van Dijk saga will go right down to the wire. I don’t think Liverpool have ended all their interest in him at all. Nevertheless, if we go into the new season with what we’ve got now, I think there will be a lot of trepidation amongst the Liverpool fans.’

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