Liverpool have denied Barcelona’s claims that they were prepared to sell Philippe Coutinho on Spain’s transfer deadline day for €200m (£183m).
The Catalan club had had three bids swiftly rejected for the Brazil midfielder and Liverpool had repeatedly insisted that he was not for sale but, with the 25-year-old handing in a transfer request and not training with his team-mates, citing a back injury, the Catalan club continued to express their optimism that a deal could be done. Within hours of the window closing with no agreement being reached, Barcelona said they had walked away after Liverpool placed a €200m price on him – but that claim has been dismissed as false by the Anfield club.
Barcelona did not say who they spoke to, or where, and sources say that they did attempt to make direct contact with Liverpool’s owner, FSG, on Friday (Spain’s transfer window closed a day after that of the Premier League). However, that approach was knocked back.
Liverpool insist that their position never changed: Coutinho was not for sale for any price at any time, right to the end of the window. The Anfield club maintain that no valuation nor opportunity was offered and that Barcelona were repeatedly made aware throughout the summer that they would not sell.
However, Barcelona’s sporting director Albert Soler claimed: “Yesterday at the last minute, after weeks of offers and conversations, Liverpool put a price on a player that we wanted. A price of €200m and we decided not to do it. This club will not enter into this new way of understanding football. This club belongs to its members and we will not act irresponsibly. Our priority are always sporting matters, but we have to manage our finances and there are limits that you cannot go beyond.”
Soler appeared alongside the director of football, Robert Fernández, to justify a transfer window that began with the departure of Neymar for €222m and that many consider to have been disastrous for Barcelona, with pressure growing for the resignation of the president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and his board.
They bemoaned a shift in an “inflated market” in which they paid €105m plus a further €40m in add-ons for Ousmane Dembélé from Borussia Dortmund, and when it came to Coutinho they accused Liverpool of finally setting a price they refused to meet. That claim, too, now comes under question.
Liverpool released a statement on 11 August declaring that their “definitive stance” was that Coutinho was not for sale and insisting that he would “remain a member of Liverpool Football Club when the summer window closes”. That message remained steadfast thereafter but Barcelona did not give up and continued to brief that they could sign him, even though it would take a huge fee – which they expected to be in the region of €150m.
In the final days of the market, sources at Barcelona believed that once Liverpool had signed replacements the path would be clear to close a deal for Coutinho, who had made little secret of his desire to go and remained in contact with Barcelona. If that hope was genuine, it ultimately proved unfounded.
When Barcelona presented Dembélé last week, Fernández said that he hoped to make “one more signing, maybe two”, but none arrived. Although they chased other options in the final days, the principal target was Coutinho. Barcelona found Liverpool unwilling to sell – until, they claim, the final minutes. Liverpool maintain that they never entertained a sale and that Barcelona knew that.
Barcelona were also trying to secure the signature of Ángel Di María from Paris Saint Germain. Late on Friday night, Barcelona pulled out of all negotiations and brought the market to a close.
“We were working last night on the chance of making a signing but it was not possible,” Fernández said.
Soler, asked to elaborate on Coutinho, said: “I am not going to explain the negotiations that took place but I will say what the situation was at the end: the €200m Liverpool said [he could go for]. Logically, we did not accept that. We want to thank the player for making an effort – because he did make a big effort – to come here. He showed that he wanted to come. But in the end it is over now and we can’t say any more than that.
“We could have signed two players for €270m each – and we could have – but then we would have to resign for being irresponsible. We’re not going to be drawn into that game.”
Coutinho, in his first competitive game of the season, scored for Brazil after coming on as a substitute in Thursday’s World Cup qualifier against Ecuador.