Barcelona have finally given up hope of signing Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho.

The Catalans made a final bid for the Brazilian on Thursday night of £140 million pounds, but the Premier League side refused to change the stance they have maintained over Coutinho since the start of the summer—he is not for sale.

Although Coutinho tried to force his way out of the club by asking for a transfer and refusing to play, citing a back injury, Jurgen Klopp and the club’s board would not stand down from their hardball position.

Barcelona are likely to end the transfer window, which shuts midnight Friday in Spain, without their prime transfer target.

Coutinho is now set to stay at Liverpool (
Image:
Rex Features)
Coutinho scored twice for Brazil against Ecuador (
Image:
REUTERS)

It has been a frustrating summer for the Blaugrana, who were unable to sign Marco Verratti or Hector Bellerin and lost Neymar, although they eventually agreed to pay an eye-watering 147 million euros for Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele.

Barcelona’s board has been trying to deal with a separate issue on Friday, with former presidential candidate Agusti Benedito officially requesting papers to launch a vote of no confidence against current president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Coutinho had submitted a transfer request (
Image:
REX/Shutterstock)

Benedito demanded the president resign and after Barcelona provide him with the papers, which must happen inside five days, Benedito has 14 working days to collect signatures from 15 per cent of the club’s members, estimated to be around 16,500 people.

One of the club’s vice-presidents Jordi Cardoner said: “We feel that now is not the right moment for the vote of no confidence. We believe this action would be more appropriate if it were carried out at the end of the season.”

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