Liverpool Deny €160m Coutinho Barca Deal as Report Claims Switch Will Be Done 'by End of the Week'

Liverpool are standing firm in their stance that Philippe Coutinho is not Barcelona-bound - despite reports suggesting a €160m fee has been agreed.

Yahoo Sports has claimed that the Brazil international will be a Barcelona player "by the end of the week" as Thursday's transfer deadline day looms large over the horizon.

However, those reports have been rejected by Liverpool's chief executive Peter Moore, who took to his Twitter account to allay fears that Coutinho had finally broken his club's resolve to hang on to his talents.

Yahoo has reported that Liverpool's owners - Fenway Sports Group - had relented and told Coutinho that they were willing to allow him to leave after Barca's latest big-money offer.

Those rumours fly in the face of Moore, however, who replied to one particularly aggrieved Reds fan who claimed that Fenway were a "bunch of s***houses" for going back on their word over selling the 25-year-old.

Coutinho's future has been the subject of intense speculation since last season ended as La Blaugrana ratcheted up their interest in the Reds playmaker.

Their desire to entice Coutinho to Nou Camp has only intensified following the world-record sale of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain, and despite splashing out £135.5m on Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Ousmane Dembele.

Coutinho has not featured for Liverpool at all during the 2017/18 campaign after manager Jurgen Klopp insisted that the forward was sidelined with a supposed back injury.

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The German and his club have since come in for serious flak from Liverpool's fanbase, however, after Coutinho was photographed taking part in full training sessions with his national side ahead of their upcoming 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Colombia.

Brazil's medical team revealed that the former Inter Milan man was in a "perfect condition" to take part in any squad selected by manager Tite for the games on 1st and 5th September - comments that infuriated Reds fans for the lies told to them by their own side.

Liverpool are weighing up a reported £75m bid for Monaco's Thomas Lemar as they make contingency plans for Coutinho's potential departure, and could also move for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after he rejected a £40m switch to Chelsea.