Coutinho is wanted by Barcelona (Getty)

Liverpool legend Phil Thompson has set his sights very high for potential replacements if Philippe Coutinho leaves Anfield this summer.

Barcelona have had a third bid for the Brazilian, understood to be in the region of £114million, rejected by the Reds.

The Premier League club are insistent that their talisman will not be leaving this summer.

But if Coutinho, who has handed in a transfer request, were to go then Liverpool would have to find a replacement.

Liverpool statement on Coutinho

The club’s definitive stance is that no offers for Philippe will be considered and he will remain a member of Liverpool Football Club when the summer window closes.

‘The ideal resolution is that the club will leave it very late and get as much as they can for him,’ Thompson told Sky Sports of the Coutinho situation. ‘If he doesn’t want to stay then I’d rather see him sold for the best price, but the big issue is that there won’t be any players near is quality on the market.’

Thompson spent 13 years at the club as a player and returned in various coaching capacities (Getty)

He continued: ‘What they can do is try to find somebody out there, maybe even play Barcelona at their own game and say you can have Coutinho but we want Luis Suarez.

‘Suarez might be unhappy with the Neymar situation. You don’t know whether a player is unhappy or a club are willing to sell until you ask the question.

Luis Suarez has excelled at Barcelona since joining from Liverpool (Getty)

Thompson continued: ‘They could go after Dele Alli, who was a Liverpool supporter as a kid. Tottenham are a bit like Liverpool in that there’s always a price on a player.

Dele Alli came close to joining Liverpool before he moved to Spurs (Getty)

‘Sergio Aguero is another player that might be interested if he’s not happy at Manchester City, but it comes back to being late in the window and that is the difficult situation Liverpool find themselves in.’

Pep Guardiola is not thought to be totally convinced by Sergio Aguero (Getty)

In addition to those unlikely targets, Thompson also picked out Arsenal star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has just 12 months remaining on his contract. The England international has been linked with a move to Anfield for some time.

‘Signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would be a start and would be available for the right money with his contract situation at Arsenal, but the club need to be ready to move if they do sell so we’re not caught short.’

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