Neymar says Liverpool’s Coutinho suffering ‘anguish’ over transfer impasse

Barcelona have abandoned their efforts to sign Philippe Coutinho before the transfer window closes in Spain tonight.

Barcelona have reportedly made a final push to sign Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho in the form of a £138 million bid.

Reports have claimed that Barcelona will make one last attempt to sign Coutinho after having three bids, one of which was thought to be worth £114m, knocked back by Liverpool.

The back injury that had been hampering the playmaker disappeared this week however as Coutinho was called up for global duty and he came off the bench to score as Brazil beat Ecuador 2-0.

The Reds finalised a £35million deal for Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on Thursday and the Reds held an outside hope of luring Thomas Lemar from Monaco. But they failed to recruit a central defender, with long-term target Virgil van Dijk staying at Southampton who refused to do business.

If Coutinho’s injuries problems return he should be able to get a rest during future global breaks with his nation home and hosed.

That he was able to feature for Tite’s side undermines his absence from the Liverpool squad for the first five games of 2017/18.

Neymar claimed that his teammate was playing with “a great sadness” in Thursday’s win against Ecuador and his frame of mind when he returns to Melwood next week could say an bad lot about how this season will play out for him. But, if Coutinho starts turning in excellent performances for Liverpool, any misdemeanours will be quickly forgotten.

Coutinho is now on global duty with Brazil and doctors have passed him fit to participate in their World Cup qualifiers. “At this moment he lives in a very great sadness, but he helped us in the victory”.

After Liverpool rejected the club’s last offer for Coutinho, negotiations carried on for a while on Friday, but proved unsuccessful, with the Reds refusing to change their stance.