Philippe Coutinho wanted to join Barcelona in the summer
Barca tried to sign the Liverpool ace in the summer and had bids of over £100m rejected.
Coutinho submitted a transfer request and considered refusing to play to force a move.
He missed the start of the season with injury before playing for Brazil after missing games for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
And Barcelona will test Liverpool’s resolve again in the summer.
“If you ask most people they will agree it doesn't make much sense for Liverpool to sell Coutinho in January but Barcelona will still try,” Balague told Sky Sports.
“They will put about €80m (£71m) on the table and will look to test Liverpool's resolve. Barca feel the conditions are still there for the player to leave - they think he will still be very useful to them considering the departure of Neymar as he has not been replaced.
“Remember Barca did not want Coutinho until they started to use him as a way to keep Neymar from PSG. Once Neymar left they realised he could fill that gap anyway.
“This transfer now enters the phase of wait and see what happens in January. Barca will bid €80m, it's just for Liverpool to decide. Has their resolve softened? Or will they stay strong again like the summer?”
GETTY
Barcelona will launch another move for Philippe Coutinho in January
Liverpool have had a poor start to the season, winning just three of nine Premier League games, and sit ninth in the table on 13 points.
They trail leaders Manchester City by 13 points already but are only three points off the top four.
Coutinho has been back in the team though and been the main man in the absence of Sadio Mane.
He’s scored four times in eight appearances but his desire to leave could be tested again.
And today's he'd admitted the players had been warned about Tottenham by Jurgen Klopp.
Coutinho told ESPN Brazil: “The goals were goals that could have been prevented. It started out wide and we end up conceding one of those goals the manager speaks about.
"He speaks a lot about this - we've conceded a lot of goals like this. And obviously in attack we were unable to score the goals necessary to draw or turn around the game.
"We were in the game during the first-half then the goal we conceded made everything worse."
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
