Philippe Coutinho: Liverpool midfielder remains Barcelona's number one target

By Saj ChowdhuryBBC Sport
Philippe Coutinho
Coutinho joined Liverpool from Inter Milan for £8.5m in 2013

Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho remains Barcelona's number one target but the Spanish club are also weighing up a move for Monaco's Thomas Lemar.

The Spanish giants have had three bids for 25-year-old Coutinho turned down, the latest in the region of £114m.

Lemar, 21, is also a target for the Reds, who are preparing a £60m bid for the French midfielder.

Barcelona are also interested in Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, 23, who helped Juve win Serie A last season.

The English transfer window shuts at 23:00 BST on Thursday, 31 August with the Spanish deadline for buying players 24 hours later.

Barcelona had their potent forward partnership of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi broken up earlier this month when Paris St-Germain lured Neymar away after paying the 222m euros release clause.

The La Liga giants completed the signing of forward Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund for £135.5m last week, but are hoping to bring in "one or two" more players before the window shuts.

Barcelona technical director Robert Fernandez said at the weekend: "I won't go into names but I admit that the club is working on the possibility of signing new players."

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