Jurgen Klopp: I Will Not 'Think' About Coutinho Until He's Ready to Play Again
With Philippe Coutinho being absent from Liverpool's squad which travelled to Germany to take on 1899 Hoffenheim in their Champions League qualifier, Jurgen Klopp is adamant that he will not 'think' about the Brazilian until he is fit to play again, according to a report published by Liverpool Echo.
Coutinho is currently in the process of recovering from a back injury, and also missed the Reds trip to Watford on Saturday in their first Premier League fixture of the season, and with FC Barcelona signalling their interest in the playmaker, question marks have loomed surrounding his future at Anfield recently after he issued his desire to leave the club in the summer, less than 24-hours before the Merseysiders' trip to Vicarage Road.
Klopp, speaking to the media, gave his insight on the pressing matter centered around his number 10, insisting that 'nothing has changed' in regards to the 25-year-old's future at the club thus far.
“There's nothing to say about it,” he claimed. “I really understand everybody is interested in it, but at this moment I'm not thinking about it.
“I will answer questions but I'm not in the car, on the way to this press conference, thinking 'if they ask this question, what can I say?' because I have to think about the (training) session in a few minutes.
“It was always like this. I work with the players I have, I don't think about the players I don't have at the moment.
“If they're injured, whatever, you cannot change, it's the same situation for me.
“I think I've said everything you can say about it, if you want to ask do, but I have no more answers.”
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After Barcelona cashed-in on Neymar in a record breaking deal which saw the attacker join Paris Saint-Germain, the Blaugrana are searching for his successor and Coutinho has been touted as a favourite to do so - Liverpool have supposedly rejected two initial bids, although La Liga giants are poised to lodge a third allegedly worth £90.3m.
Klopp then proceeded to veer away from the transfer debacle, instead opting to state that his absence from the fold with their European fixture against the Bundesliga outfit being imminent is a 'blow'.
“Nothing has changed over the last few days,” the German boss added. “Not on one side, not on the other side. I'm not sure what you're asking for as he's not available for us at this moment, that's the main issue.
“He cannot play for Liverpool in this moment and how everybody can imagine, that's quite a blow for us. We know a few days about it, so we have been able to prepare for this game without him, like we have been able to prepare without Adam Lallana, without Daniel Sturridge.”
